Woolly Rhino Skull Found In A Digger Bucket

Check out the teeth on that rhino...
© Gary Coates

A quarry worker unearthed a surprise recently when he found a huge woolly rhino skull in his digger bucket. After calling in archaeologists from Birmingham University a treasure trove of Ice Age animals was discovered.

The remains of four woolly rhinos, along with plants, beetles, mammoth, reindeer, wild horse, bison and wolf bones were found in the quarry next to the River Trent in Staffordshire.

Don't worry though, you won't bump into a rhino or a mammoth next time you nip to the shops, these bones are very, very old.

The lucky digger. © Gary Coates

The woolly rhinos lived in Britain during the Ice Age, somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago.

They would have been huge, weighing about one and a half tonnes (around the same weight as a family car). They had shaggy, thick wool and two horns. The front horn, on the end of the rhino's snout, could grow up to a metre long.

Britain in the Ice Age looked very different from the sprawling cities and green hills we have today, but it wasn't all frozen glaciers. There would have been grass and plants for the animals to graze.

A sandpit full of rhino bones. © Gary Coates

One of the woolly rhino skulls was found with scraps of its last leafy nibble stuck between its teeth. The scientists are very excited about this as it means they should be able to work out what kinds of plants grew in the area at the time.

The most complete skeleton has been sent to The Natural History Museum in London where it will be conserved and then put on display.

Andy Currant, a palaeontologist from the museum said, "This is the best example of a woolly rhino I have ever seen. The bones are exceptionally well-preserved - usually, remains have been scavenged by predators and only fragments survive."

© Gary Coates

If you are interested in the Ice Age or the huge animals that used to roam around Britain, then the Creswell Crags website is a great place to start.

'Virtually The Ice Age' lets you explore the landscape the way it was in the Ice Age and even has a special section on woolly rhinos!

Some of the language is quite grown-up, but don't let that put you off, there's lots to see and find out. Click on this link to take a look at 'Virtually The Ice Age'.