The Bontnewydd Palaeolithic site is an archaeological site in Wales which has yielded the earliest known remains of Neanderthals in the region. It is located on the River Elwy, near the hamlet of Bontnewydd, Denbighshire.
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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 site is the most north-western site in Eurasia for remains of early hominids and is considered of international importance. Based on the morphology and age of the teeth, particularly the evidence of taurodontism, the teeth are believed to belong to a group of Neanderthals who hunted game in the vale of Elwy in an interglacial period.
The site is sometimes referred to as Pontnewydd, meaning 'Newbridge' in English.
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