Bontnewydd Palaeolithic site

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
(Redirected from Pontnewydd Cave)
Jump to: navigation, search
Map of Bontnewydd Palaeolithic site
Map of Bontnewydd Palaeolithic site
Bontnewydd
Denbighshire

The Bontnewydd Palaeolithic site (also known in its unmutated form as Pontnewydd Welsh language: 'New bridge') is an archaeological site near St Asaph, Denbighshire, Wales which has yielded one of the earliest known remains of Neanderthals in Britain. It is located a few yards east of the River Elwy, near the hamlet of Bontnewydd, near Cefn Meiriadog, Denbighshire.

Palaeolithic site

Bontnewydd was excavated from 1978 by a team from the University of Wales, led by Dr Stephen Aldhouse Green. Teeth and part of a jawbone excavated in the cave in 1981 were dated to 230,000 years ago. The bone is from a Neanderthal boy approximately eleven years old.[1]

The teeth show evidence of taurodontism, enlarged pulp cavities and short roots, which is characteristic of Neanderthals, and although it is not unique to them it is one of the reasons that the species was identified as Neanderthal.[2]

File:Neanderthaler Fund.png
Neanderthal from the period

The site is the most north-western site in Eurasia for remains of early hominids and is considered of international importance.

See also

Notes

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. Museum of Wales 2007

References

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (alt ISBN 0-7139-9795-8)
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.