Future of Cerney Wick mammoth graveyard site at risk

The site near Swindon was discovered in 2017 by amateur palaeontologists and Swindon couple Neville and Sally Hollingworth.

It is thought to be so historically significant it was given its own BBC documentary presented by Sir David Attenborough.

The company responsible for the excavations until now has been DigVentures, but in the middle of July, they were sent a letter saying they would 'no longer have access' and that they needed to return all the finds that had been removed, even though these finds are now accessioned by a museum.

Read More: Swindon couple unearth five 220,000-year-old ice-age mammoths at site near town

David Attenborough presenting the show Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard (Image: BBC)

DigVentures says that while dig teams do change, particularly on privately owned sites, there is usually a handover process or some transparency between teams.

Lisa Westcott Wilkins, co-founder of DigVentures, said: "We received a grant from Historic England to do the work we did, which cost around £200,000. We've just published an academic journal about the site, and yet we've just been suddenly cut off.

"This is unusual and unethical behaviour between scientific professionals. We should have at least been notified that another qualified team was taking over, in the spirit of collaboration, especially because public money was involved."

Lisa had initially praised Hills for its handling of the initial find and for allowing them full access to the site for as long as they needed to carry out their investigations. 

Read More: The 200,000-year-old mammoths unearthed at Swindon quarry

But she has now expressed her concerns publicly in an interview with the Guardian where she described some unanswered questions surrounding the decision to change teams that caused serious concerns about the future of the site. 

"We were working on the site with a number of organisations including highly trained specialists from several universities and museums, and no one had any idea this was going to happen or which team is taking over.

"We were lucky we received a substantial grant which allowed us to dig relatively small trenches but digs like this are very expensive as is conservation for items of this great age. It’s difficult to imagine where funding for this new dig could have come – there aren’t likely to be any public organisations that have that kind of money at the moment."

It is believed that the focus of the upcoming dig with the as-yet-unannounced new team will be palaeontological, so focusing on fossils, rather than archaeological or focusing on human activity. 

This is of concern because the palaeontological excavation process is different to the archaeological excavation process and, even though it would be performed by skilled professionals, it still risks inadvertently disturbing or destroying internationally important archaeological finds nearby.

DigVentures carefully handling a mammoth bone at the Cerney Wick site (Image: DigVentures)

"We were on the verge of testing a cut on one of the mammoth bones to see if it was caused by a man-made tool, and this would be a huge discovery. 

"I worry that we might lose the chance to learn important things like this if the archaeological importance of the site is not considered, and so far there has been no reassurance that it will be."

Hills Quarry Products has labelled the concerns raised by DigVentures as 'unsubstantiated and incorrect' and said they were 'unhelpful to the future of the project'.

A spokesperson for Hills added: "As a family-owned business we are extremely proud of our long association of supporting archaeological investigations and academic research linked to discoveries at our sites. 

"This is something to which Hills Quarry Products remain committed and we will continue working with the country’s leading professional and academic research organisations to help better understand and secure items of archaeological and palaeontological interest including the Cerney Mammoths for the nation."