Bontnewydd Palaeolithic site

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 Bont-newydd, Conwy. The site is sometimes referred to as Pontnewydd, meaning 'Newbridge'.

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]

Based on the morphology and age of the teeth, particularly the evidence of taurodontism (enlarged pulp cavities and short roots), the teeth are believed to belong to a group of Neanderthals who hunted game in the vale of Elwy in an interglacial period.^[2]

The site is the most north-western site in Eurasia for remains of early hominids and is considered of international importance. Other key paleolithic sites in the UK are Happisburgh, Pakefield, Boxgrove, Swanscombe, Kents Cavern, Paviland, and Gough's Cave.

See also

• Prehistoric Wales
• Prehistoric Britain
• Genetic history of the British Isles
• List of human evolution fossils
• List of Neanderthal sites
• List of prehistoric structures in Great Britain

Notes

References

• Stringer, Chris (5 October 2006). Homo Britannicus: The Incredible Story of Human Life in Britain. Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-7139-9795-8.  (alt ISBN 0-7139-9795-8)
• "The oldest people in Wales — Neanderthal teeth from Pontnewydd Cave". National Museum of Wales. September 2007. Retrieved December 2012. 
• Pettitt, Paul (August 2002). "When Burial Begins". British Archaeology Magazine. ISSN 1357-4442. Retrieved December 2012. 

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