Neanderthals Among Mammoths
Lynford Quarry is nationally and internationally significant - no such well preserved Neanderthal location exists anywhere else in the UKOffers a key record of the lives of Neanderthals and the evolution of ancient lifestylesLooks at the relationship between the mammoth and the Neanderthal - were mammoths hunted or did they die naturally?In spring 2002 mammoth bones and associated Mousterian stone tools were found in situ at Lynford Quarry, near Munford village, Norfolk, UK.Excavation was undertaken with support from the quarry owners and English Heritage. These finds are a rare example of British Middle Palaeolithic tools, associated with the Neanderthal occupation of what was then a peninsula of north-west Europe. The excavation recovered exceptionally well-preserved archaeological and palaeoenvironmental information.The association of woolly mammoth bones with bout-coupé hand-axes and this wealth of palaeoenvironmental data, provided a unique opportunity to investigate questions of diet, land use and habitat. The plant and invertebrate remains indicate open conditions dominated by grasses, sedges and low-growing herbaceous communities, with small stands of birch or scrub, and areas of acid heath or bog, and a mild climate. Finds included 1,365 identified bones, of which 91 per cent are woolly mammoth; and 2,720 lithic pieces, including 41 complete and 6 broken handaxes, and 20 flake tools.The Lynford finds give a rare opportunity to study the socioecology of Neanderthals and the relationship between their social structure and the distribution of resources in the landscape during the last cold stage of Ice Age Europe.