06 December 2004

New Display Is Mammoth

Moreton C Cullimore (Gravels) Ltd's recent discovery of a fossilised Mammoth Skull at its site in Ashton Keynes in the Cotswold Water Park in Wiltshire is being given a public showcase as the artefact is loaned to the Cotswold Water Park Society Ltd. The skull is on display at the society's Gateway Centre in the Water Park, offering the public a rare glimpse of the remains of the prehistoric giant.

The discovery, made by Dr Neville Hollingworth in January 2004, is only the second mammoth skull to have been found in Britain in 200 years. The skull is that of a female Mammoth, which roamed around Britain around 30,000 years ago, and has attracted the attention of the world press.

Moreton C Cullimore Ltd's Managing Director Roger N Cullimore is hoping to arrange for the find to be displayed for local residents in Stroud, subject to a suitable location being found that can guarantee the safety of the fragile fossil.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Mammoth Facts!

1. Mammoths stood about 9 to 11 feet tall and weighed between 5 and 9 tons. The largest fully grown examples weighed about the same as 2 killer whales or 12 small cars. They had long, thick, brown (shaggy) hair and soft yellowish underfur, a wide-domed head, sloping back, small ears (much smaller than today's elephants), a long trunk, and long curving tusks (which were 10 to 15 feet long and 185 pounds).
2. They lived around 10 million years after the dinosaurs - from about 2 million years ago to as recently as 15,000 years ago, from the late Pleistocene epoch (the last ice age) to the early Holocene epoch.
3. As herbivores, mammoths grazed mostly on grasses, herbs, shrubs, and small trees. They spent between 14 and 20 hours of their day eating and searching for food. They consumed up to 440 pounds of food and 48 gallons (or 180 liters) of water every day.
4. Mammoths adapted to the fierce cold by developing a 3-inch layer of fat covered by a thick layer of skin, a shaggy fur coat (some hairs on its coat grew as long as 2 to 3 feet), and long curved tusks used to dig in the snow for food.

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