Pontnewydd | |
 cave entry | |
  Shown within Wales Show map of Wales Bontnewydd Palaeolithic site (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom | |
| Location | nearSt Asaph |
|---|---|
| Region | Denbighshire,Wales |
| Coordinates | 53°13′37″N3°28′34″W / 53.22694°N 3.47611°W /53.22694; -3.47611 |
| History | |
| Periods | Paleolithic |
| Associated with | Neanderthals |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1978 |
| Archaeologists | Stephen Aldhouse Green |
TheBontnewydd palaeolithic site (Welsh:[bɔntˈnɛuɨ̯ð]), also known in itsunmutated form asPontnewydd (Welsh for 'new bridge'), is anarchaeological site nearSt Asaph,Denbighshire,Wales. It is one of only three sites in Britain to have produced fossils of ancient species of humans (together withBoxgrove andSwanscombe) and the only one with fossils of a classicNeanderthal.[1] It is located a few yards east of theRiver Elwy, near the hamlet of Bontnewydd, nearCefn Meiriadog, Denbighshire.
Bontnewydd was excavated from 1978 by a team from theUniversity of Wales, led by Dr. Stephen Aldhouse Green. Teeth and part of a jawbone from aNeanderthal boy approximately eleven years old were dated to 230,000 years ago.[2]Seventeen teeth from at least five individuals were found.[3]
The teeth show evidence oftaurodontism, enlarged pulp cavities and short roots, which is characteristic ofNeanderthals, and although it is not unique to them it is one of the reasons that the species was identified as Neanderthal.
In Britain, the wolfCanis lupus was the only canid species present fromMarine Isotope Stage 7 (243,000 years before present), with the oldest record from Pontnewydd Cave.[4]
The site is also important for itsmammoth steppe fauna, such asreindeer andwoolly rhinoceros, dating to between around 41,000 and 28,000 years ago.[5]
