How a phone call 40 years ago changed Ice Age history
A 40-year-old discovery of mammoth remains in Shropshire, England, is being revisited to highlight how a casual phone call from a local resident led to a major scientific breakthrough. The find proved that mammoths survived in Britain much longer than previously believed.
Why it matters
It underscores the importance of public engagement in scientific discovery and the role of chance in historical research.
Protesters blocking Garvaghy Road ahead of Orange Order march A discovery which transformed scientists' understanding of the Ice Age in western Europe is being remembered 40 years on.
The remains of five mammoths were uncovered by quarry workers at a gravel pit near Condover, Shropshire, in on 27 September 1986.
Initially thought to possibly belong to a shire horse or even a circus elephant, the bones turned out to include the most complete adult mammoth skeleton found in Britain.
Radiocarbon dating placed the animals at about 14,000 years old, proving mammoths had survived in Britain thousands of years later than previously thought.
But four decades later, those involved have also been setting the record straight about how the remarkable discovery came to the attention of experts.
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