{"id":15815,"date":"2026-04-17T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T08:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/15815\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T08:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T08:00:09","slug":"archaeology-breakthrough-ancient-hippopotamus-that-roamed-britain-120000-years-ago-found-in-welsh-cave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/15815\/","title":{"rendered":"Archaeology breakthrough: Ancient hippopotamus that roamed Britain 120,000 years ago found in Welsh cave"},"content":{"rendered":"

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a hippopotamus that lived in Britain approximately 120,000 years ago within a Welsh cave system. <\/p>\n

The discovery was made at Wogan Cavern, a vast underground chamber located beneath Pembroke Castle, that visitors reach via a spiral staircase.<\/p>\n

The University of Aberdeen has now secured funding from the Calleva Foundation to conduct an extensive five-year investigation of the site. <\/p>\n

Researchers believe the cavern contains exceptional evidence of both ancient human presence and significant animal fossils.<\/p>\n

The project will bring together experts from institutions across Britain and Europe to examine what scientists describe as one of the nation’s most significant prehistoric archives.<\/p>\n

Dr Rob Dinnis, who led the preliminary excavations and will head the new project, said: “Despite the limited work done so far, we can already say that the cavern is a truly remarkable site.<\/p>\n

“There is no other site like it in Britain.”<\/p>\n

\"Hippo<\/p>\n

The unearthed hippo bones date back some 120,000 years<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

He explained the cave could document an extensive timeline of human presence, stretching from hunter-gatherers who inhabited the area roughly 11,500 years ago following the last Ice Age, through to Britain’s earliest Homo sapiens between 45,000 and 35,000 years ago.<\/p>\n

Dr Dinnis said there are also indications of even older occupation, likely by Neanderthals, alongside the hippo bones dating to the last interglacial period.<\/p>\n

The enormous cavern had long been assumed to hold little archaeological value, with Victorian-era excavators believed to have removed all significant artefacts and remains.<\/p>\n

However, limited digs conducted between 2021 and 2024 overturned this assumption entirely.<\/p>\n

\"Wogan<\/p>\n

Researchers unearthed the bones in Wogan Cavern beneath Pembroke Castle<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

These preliminary investigations revealed that substantial portions of the cave’s sediment layers remained undisturbed, containing evidence of human and animal activity stretching back more than 100,000 years.<\/p>\n

This unexpected finding has transformed understanding of the site’s potential.<\/p>\n

Researchers now consider Wogan Cavern to be rapidly establishing itself as among the most crucial prehistoric repositories anywhere in Britain.<\/p>\n

Professor Kate Britton, a specialist in science-based archaeology from Aberdeen, said: “Wogan Cavern provides a unique chance to use all the scientific techniques now available to archaeologists.”<\/p>\n

\"Hippos<\/p>\n

Hippos are among the strongest and deadliest animals on earth <\/p>\n

| GETTY<\/p>\n

She noted the excellent preservation of bones enables detailed analysis of ancient environments and ecosystems, as well as precise scientific dating methods.<\/p>\n

Preliminary research has demonstrated ancient DNA survives within both the skeletal remains and the cave’s sediment deposits.<\/p>\n

The expanded excavations are expected to yield valuable insights into historical climate shifts, species that no longer exist, and the various periods when humans made the cavern their dwelling place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a hippopotamus that lived in Britain approximately 120,000 years ago within a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15816,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2006,13,4008],"class_list":{"0":"post-15815","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"tag-archaeology","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-science"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116418997382571573","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}