Mammoth skull find

A complete mammoth skull - only the second to be found in Britain - has been discovered in a gravel pit.

The skull is estimated to be about 50,000 years old and was found in the Cotswold Water Park, near Cirencester in Gloucestershire.

The ice age specimen was unearthed on January 11 by Dr Neville Hollingworth, a palaeontologist who works at the Natural Environment Research Council in Swindon.

"The skull is exquisite," Dr Hollingworth said. "It is very finely preserved and almost looks like modern bone. It could have been buried last week. This is definitely my best find in 20 years of collecting fossils. I am amazed."

Posted by David on January 20, 2004 3:45 PM