A rare Neanderthal butchery site has been discovered by archaeologists excavating a quarry in Norfolk, UK. Mammoth tusks and flint tools estimated to be 50,000 years old are among the 鈥渟ensational鈥� artefacts uncovered.
鈥淚t is extremely rare to find any evidence of Neanderthals and even rarer to find it in association with mammoth remains,鈥� says David Miles, chief archaeologist at English Heritage. 鈥淲e 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.
鈥淔or the first time, we may also be able to date the presence of Middle Palaeolithic hominids conclusively in Britain,鈥� he adds.
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Eight handaxes, plus enormous teeth, two-metre long tusks and parts of the skeletons of three, or possibly four mammoths, teeth from a woolly rhino and reindeer antlers first came to light during a dig conducted earlier this year. The archaeologists are now close to completing a 12-week rescue excavation of the finds.
Prey to kill
The site is thought to have once been a series of ponds used as a watering hole by animals and hominids. The discovery of flint handaxes and other tools close to the animal remains is 鈥渧ery suggestive鈥�, says Mark White of Durham University, who has examined the artefacts. 鈥淚t is valid to speculate that the Neanderthals had gone to this watering place because they knew they would find prey to kill,鈥� he says.
Neanderthals disappeared from the fossil record about 30,000 years ago, when Homo sapiens colonised Europe. They have left few traces of their life during the last Ice Age.
The Norfolk tools and remains will now be examined in closer detail, says Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London. 鈥淲e may be in for even more sensational revelations yet,鈥� he says.