18 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

200,000-year-old ‘mammoth graveyard’ found in the southwest UK

Researchers have unearthed a mammoth “graveyard” filled with the bony remains of five individuals, including an infant, two juveniles, and two adults that died during the last ice age at what is now a quarry in Swindon, a town in the southwest UK.

Experts who unearthed a 200,000-year-old mammoth graveyard say it is “one of Britain’s biggest Ice Age discoveries in recent years”.

Digging at the site began after two keen amateur fossil hunters, Sally and Neville Hollingworth, spotted a Neanderthal hand axe at the site.

Experts from DigVentures, an archaeology social enterprise, then went on to find remains belonging to a species of Steppe mammoth, an ancestor of the woolly mammoth.

A research team led by archaeologists from DigVentures discovered well preserved evidence at the site
A research team led by archaeologists from DigVentures discovered well-preserved evidence at the site. Photo: DİGVENTURES

The mammoth remains, such as tusks, leg bones, ribs, and vertebrae belonging to a species of Steppe mammoth, a group whose descendants include the woolly mammoth. Although early Steppe mammoths stood up to 13.1 feet (4 meters) high at the shoulders, the five individuals were smaller, according to Live Science.

Delicate beetle wings and fragile freshwater snail shells as well as stone tools from the Neanderthal age were also found at the site.

“Finding mammoth bones is always extraordinary, but finding ones that are so old and well preserved, and in such close proximity to Neanderthal stone tools is exceptional,” Lisa Westcott Wilkins, the co-founder of DigVentures, said in a statement.

The team recovered bones including tusks, leg bones, ribs and vertebrae belonging to a species of Steppe mammoth
The team recovered bones including tusks, leg bones, ribs, and vertebrae belonging to a species of Steppe mammoth. Photo: DİGVENTURES

According to DigVentures, the crowdsourced archaeological organization in the U.K. that led the excavation, more are expected to be found because only a fraction of the vast site, a gravel quarry, has been excavated.

Research is ongoing to understand why so many mammoths were found in one place, and whether they were hunted or scavenged by Neanderthals.

The site has been dated to between 220,000 and 210,000 years ago, toward the end of an interglacial, or warm period, when Neanderthals still lived in Britain.

The discovery will be featured in a new BBC One documentary Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard which will be broadcast on 30 December.

Related Articles

Dartmoor mining discovery rewrites more than 1,000 years of history

18 July 2021

18 July 2021

A new discovery at a Dartmoor mine in England dates human activity there back potentially by more than 1,000 years....

New Huge Viking-age boat grave discovered by Radar in Norway

12 April 2022

12 April 2022

Archaeologists have located a boat grave from the Viking Age near Øyesletta in Norway during a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey....

9th-Century Slave-Built Large-Scale Agricultural System Discovered in Southern Iraq

3 June 2025

3 June 2025

A recent archaeological study has unveiled compelling evidence of a vast agricultural infrastructure in southern Iraq, believed to have been...

Turkish researchers to work in Mount Ağrı believed to host Noah’s Ark remains

15 December 2022

15 December 2022

A team from Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ) and Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University (AİÇÜ) has started in the area where the...

Freshwater and marine shells used as ornaments 30,000 years ago discovered in Spain

7 June 2023

7 June 2023

In Malaga’s Cueva de Ardales, up to 13 freshwater and marine shells that were carefully transformed by humans between 25,000...

4,000-year-old settlement found during Balasore town India

9 July 2021

9 July 2021

A 4,000-year-old settlement and ancient artifacts have been discovered in the Balasore district, India. The Odisha Institute for Maritime and...

Archaeologists find a 3,000-year-old bronze sword in Germany

15 June 2023

15 June 2023

Archaeologists discovered a bronze sword more than 3,000 years old during excavations in the town of Nördlingen in Bavaria, Germany....

Sacred Hill of Moon God Sin “Sogmatar”

23 June 2022

23 June 2022

Sogmatar, Şanlıurfa is 53 kilometers from Harran. It is located in Yağmurlu village, where there are important springs in the...

Egyptian archaeologists found 110 ancient tombs in the Nile Delta

28 April 2021

28 April 2021

The Tourism and Antiquities Ministry announced Tuesday that Egyptian archaeologists had discovered 110 burial tombs on the Nile Delta dating...

A 1600-year-old writing set was unearthed in the city of Bathonea, which has the oldest ancient port in Istanbul

21 August 2022

21 August 2022

During the Istanbul Bathonea excavations, a 1600-year-old writing set containing a miniature vessel, a bone writing pen, and an inkwell,...

Prehistoric Masterpiece Discovered in Northern Sweden: White Quartzite Arrowhead

12 July 2025

12 July 2025

A bifacially crafted arrowhead made of white quartzite has become the most remarkable discovery at an archaeological excavation in northern...

Egyptian mission discovered five ancient water wells in North Sinai

1 March 2022

1 March 2022

A team of Egyptian archeologists working in the Tell El Kedwa discovered five ancient wells which are believed to be...

The Basilica cistern, which is said to have the sarcophagus of Medusa or the Mysterious Snake Woman, was restored

21 July 2022

21 July 2022

The Basilica Cistern, one of the magnificent ancient structures of Istanbul, was restored. Besides being the greatest work of the...

Rare Bronze Age Metalworking Hoard Discovered in Wiltshire, Including an Anvil

20 February 2025

20 February 2025

A remarkable discovery has been made in Urchfont, a village located in Wiltshire, England, where a Bronze Age hoard of...

5,000-year-old Ceremonial Temple Discovered in Peru

9 July 2024

9 July 2024

Archaeologists from the Peru Ministry of Culture have discovered an ancient ceremonial temple complex at Los Paredones de la Otra...