Environmental Stewardship
Historic finds at Alrewas
“We knew we’d uncovered something significant, so we stopped our works so we could figure out what had actually been found. It was a very exciting moment for our team.”
Mark Collier, Alrewas quarry manager – materials
Colleagues uncovered some astonishing finds at Alrewas recently. They unearthed the well-preserved remains of a woolly rhinoceros, alongside two mammoth tusks and a reindeer antler. The bones were found within the sand and gravel of an old river channel.
Previous finds of woolly rhinoceros at the location were radiocarbon dated to around 40,000 years ago. According to the archaeologists working in the area, these animals would have roamed a largely treeless grassland floodplain at the time, with a much colder climate similar to present-day northern Norway.
Midlands Region Humans (Neanderthals) would have been present at the time, but there is no evidence from the bones to suggest the animals had been hunted. Their research indicates that they likely died by the river, potentially after becoming stuck in the mud and being frozen into the deposits.
The Alrewas team worked with the Worcestershire Archaeological Society to record and preserve these important finds.
