A Unique opportunity to experience a live archaeological dig in action. One of the Hills Quarries Ltd sites at Cerney Wick last year gained national recognition in the previously little known world of Mammoths in David Attenborough's documentary 'Mammoth Graveyard' (see BBC iPlayer).
Oak Tree Field is a nationally significant palaeontological site featuring a 200,000+ year old buried river channel. It has yielded an extraordinary number of vertebrate fossils, and deeper layers from the Jurassic Kellaways Sand Formation (165 million years old) provide rare, well-preserved specimens.
The Opportunity: This excavation is a unique collaboration between palaeontology and archaeology, offering the chance to investigate the evolution of the Upper Thames Valley during the Pleistocene. The dig aims to build on earlier discoveries, train students in field and conservation techniques, and recover scientifically valuable material for donation to national institutions for research and public display.
Participants will help recover scientifically valuable fossils, contributing to national research and museum collections. A further goal is to raise awareness of the site’s significance and show how sand and gravel quarrying in the Cotswold Lakes creates rare opportunities to advance our understanding of geological and palaeontological history for the benefit of both science and the wider public.
There is limited opportunity for two sessions of 2 hour visits, max 12 persons attend 10.00 - 12.00 and max 12 persons attend 14.00 - 16.00, please state which session is preferred. Full PPE will be required.
Please contact Rod Noble at rodnoble2@gmail.com advising which session you wish to attend (10-12pm or 2-4pm).