Bontnewydd Paleaolithic site
| Pontnewydd | |
cave entry
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 Shown within Wales
Bontnewydd Palaeolithic site (the United Kingdom)
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| Location | near St Asaph |
|---|---|
| Region | Denbighshire, Wales |
| Coordinates | 53°13′37″N 3°28′34″W / 53.22694°N 3.47611°WCoordinates: 53°13′37″N 3°28′34″W / 53.22694°N 3.47611°W |
| History | |
| Periods | Paleolithic |
| Associated with | Neanderthals |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1978 |
| Archaeologists | Stephen Aldhouse Green |
The Bontnewydd palaeolithic site (Welsh: [bɔntˈnɛuɨ̯ð]; 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.
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.
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.
The site is the most north-western site in Eurasia for remains of early hominids and is considered of international importance.
In Britain, the wolf Canis lupus was the only canid species present from Marine Isotope Stage 7 (243,000 years before present), with the oldest record from Pontnewydd Cave.
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