Uploaded July 2024 | Updated September 2026, 15 hours ago
In 2017, the femur of a mammoth was discovered by Sally and Neville Hollingworth in a commercial gravel quarry close to the village of Cerney Wick, on the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border in England. Subsequent exploration of this site yielded further remains of Pleistocene megafauna including horses, bison, hyena and elk, as well as Neanderthal hand tools.
In the following years, the excavations at Cerney Wick expanded in scope into what is now the largest palaeontological dig in the UK. The potential for public interest in the site and its finds was quickly realised and the documentary ‘Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard’ was produced by Windfall Films for the BBC in 2021. Now, the continuing recovery of fossil content, and a better understanding of the environment in which the remains were preserved, are helping to paint a progressively more detailed picture of this exciting locality.
In this episode we’re joined by both Sally and Nev as we discuss their mammoth discovery and examine the complex geology of the site with its interplay of Jurassic and Pleistocene sediments. Finally, we reflect upon the dig’s relationship with the quarry’s commercial owners and the numerous volunteers required for the work.
We’ve been granted access to the site, allowing us to record media from within the field. Over the coming weeks, we will add new multimedia-rich posts featuring videos of the excavations, pictures of the finds and interviews with various people at the dig.
Website: palaeocast.com/cerney-wick
Patreon: patreon.com/palaeocast
In 2017, the femur of a mammoth was discovered by Sally and Neville Hollingworth in a commercial gravel quarry close to the village of Cerney Wick, on the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border in England. Subsequent exploration of this site yielded further remains of Pleistocene megafauna including horses, bison, hyena and elk, as well as Neanderthal hand tools.
In the following years, the excavations at Cerney Wick expanded in scope into what is now the largest palaeontological dig in the UK. The potential for public interest in the site and its finds was quickly realised and the documentary ‘Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard’ was produced by Windfall Films for the BBC in 2021. Now, the continuing recovery of fossil content, and a better understanding of the environment in which the remains were preserved, are helping to paint a progressively more detailed picture of this exciting locality.
In this episode we’re joined by both Sally and Nev as we discuss their mammoth discovery and examine the complex geology of the site with its interplay of Jurassic and Pleistocene sediments. Finally, we reflect upon the dig’s relationship with the quarry’s commercial owners and the numerous volunteers required for the work.
We’ve been granted access to the site, allowing us to record media from within the field. Over the coming weeks, we will add new multimedia-rich posts featuring videos of the excavations, pictures of the finds and interviews with various people at the dig.
Website: palaeocast.com/cerney-wick
Patreon: patreon.com/palaeocast
