Mammoth Graveyard: New Attenborough doc filmed on site with DigVentures!

For the last two years, DigVentures has secretly been filming with Sir David Attenborough…

News about our secret ‘mammoth project’ has finally been announced by the BBC, which means we can finally spill the beans: for the last two years we’ve been excavating an extraordinary site near Swindon, where stone tools are found side-by-side with the remains of multiple Ice Age mammoths.

How did they die? Were they slain by Neanderthals? And what can these discoveries tell us about life in Ice Age Britain? Our search for answers to this Ice Age mystery is now the subject of an exciting new BBC One documentary, filmed on site with Prof. Ben Garrod and Sir David Attenborough.

Due to be broadcast in late December, the story actually begins all the way back in 2017 when two fossil hunters, Sally and Neville Hollingworth, found a remarkable collection of Ice Age mammoth fossils alongside a Neanderthal hand axe. It rapidly became clear that this was a site of enormous significance: the stone tools lying nearby make this a once in a generation discovery offering a unique window into how our Neanderthal relatives lived in the harsh conditions of Ice Age Britain, and even how they died – a period of prehistory we know very little about.

DigVentures were called in 2019 as part of an expert team who could carry out a forensic study of the site, and retrieve crucial dating evidence that could help to unpack important details, such as whether these mammoths had all died within the space of a few years, or within a few hundred thousand years.

We won’t be giving away any spoilers just yet, but let’s just say that the BBC Press Release isn’t wrong when it describes the finds as:

Britain’s biggest mammoth discovery in almost 20 years

The excavation was carried out with support from Historic England, Hills Group, and of course Sally and Neville Hollingworth. We’ve also worked closely with Prof. Ben Garrod, Sir David Attenborough, the incredible team at Windfall Productions, and are delighted that many other talented archaeologists are being featured in the documentary to provide context for the discoveries.

Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard (w/t), a 1×60’ for BBC One and iPlayer, is made by Windfall Films. It was commissioned by Patrick Holland, Director, Factual, Arts and Classical Music Television and Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Science and Natural History. The Commissioning Editor is Tom Coveney and the Executive Producer is David Duggan.

The documentary is due to air in late December. As more details are released, we’ll be on standy-by with plenty more to share, from behind-the-scenes photos to opportunities to meet our archaeologists and see the artefacts online.