Mammoth Molars Uncovered in Norfolk

Excavations at a quarry in Norfolk have revealed one of the most significant Ice-Age Neanderthal finds in UK archaeological history.

The extraordinary haul of 50,000 year-old flint tools and animal remains could provide crucial and extremely rare information about a little understood period of humankind's history.

"It is extremely rare to find any evidence of Neanderthals and even rarer to find it in association with mammoth remains," explained David Miles, Chief Archaeologist at English Heritage.

Right: a boot coupe hand axe discovered near the remains of a mammoth. Photo: Steve Cole © English Heritage

"We may have discovered a butchery site or, what would be even more exciting, first evidence in Britain of a Neanderthal hunting site which would tell us much about their organisational and social abilities," he said.

"For the first time we may also be able to date the presence of Middle Palaeolithic hominids conclusively in Britain."

Amongst the items yielded by the twelve-week dig are eight skilfully worked flint hand axes, two metre-long tusks and mammoth skeleton parts, teeth from a woolly rhino and a reindeer antler.

Left: the remains of a mammoth. Photo: Steve Cole © English Heritage

Neanderthals were the heavy browed, thickset hominids who inhabited Europe and western and central Asia from about 130,000 to 30,000 years ago and have long been the subjects of fierce debate among academics.

Supplanted by homo sapiens, many believe the Neanderthal scavenged the kills of other animals. But some continental evidence has suggested they may have possessed advanced skills and hunted large prey, such as horses, in groups.

This particular site is thought to have been a series of ponds used as a watering place by both Neanderthals and animals, which, in the more exotic Britain of the day, included bison, woolly rhinoceros, lions, hyenas and wolves.

Right: upper molar mammoth tooth. Photo: Steve Cole © English Heritage

As yet, no cut marks have been discovered on bones from the find to provide a definite link between them and the Neanderthal tools, but the flints will undergo detailed analysis to determine how they were used.

Such is the international importance of this excavation, it was awarded the first ever grant from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund.

The ALSF is a £29.5 million project providing a wide range of benefits to areas affected by aggregates extraction and is administered by English Heritage, the Countryside Agency and English Nature.