Archaeologists in Britain have uncovered the largest mammoth 'graveyard' that showed the skeletal remains of five mammoths, an infant, two juveniles, and two adults. These five mammoths died during the last ice age close to Swindon where they were found next to stone tools crafted by Neanderthals that included a hand axe and smaller flint tools known as scrapers.
     "Finding mammoth bones is always extraordinary, but finding ones that are so old and well preserved, and in such close proximity to Neanderthal stone tools is exceptional," Lisa Westcott Wilkins, the co-founder of DigVentures, said in a statement.
     The site was originally discovered by Sally and Neville Hollingworth, two amateur fossil hunters, who discovered the graveyard and Neanderthal tools. Apart from the mammoth bones, other remnants were uncovered such as beetle wings, freshwater snail shells.
     The site is dated to between 220,000 and 210,000 years ago, placing it towards the end of an interglacial period when Neanderthals were present in Britain. As the ice age ended, the Neanderthals moved further south.
     "The findings have enormous value for understanding the human occupation of Britain, and the delicate environmental evidence recovered will also help us understand it in the context of past climate change," Duncan Wilson, the chief executive of Historic England, a British historical preservation body, said in a statement. "Through these finds and the research that will follow, we look forward to further light being shed on life in Britain 200,000 years ago."

Edited from BBC News, Live Science (19 December 2021)