Skeletons of Ice Age animals have proved very popular recently and Summers Place Auctions are delighted to be able to offer one of the best collections ever to come to auction. They will be included in the Spring auction on Tuesday, 12th March 2019.

Highlight of the auction will be a Woolly Rhinoceros, which rarely come up for sale. The extinct species was common throughout Europe and northern Asia during the Pleistocene epoch and survived until the end of the last glacial period. A typical adult male was 3 to 3.8 metres in length and weighed about 1,800-2,700 kg and could be 2m tall, slightly larger than the extant white rhino. It had two horns, made of keratin, with the smaller horn between its eyes. It had long thick fur, small ears, short, thick legs and a stocky body. Its shape was only known from prehistoric cave paintings until a preserved specimen (missing only fur and hooves) was discover in Poland and several have been found in Siberia as late as 2015. It is estimated to sell for £60,000 – 100,000.

They lived with Woolly Mammoths, Cave Lions and Cave Bears, Prehistoric Horses etc. - most became extinct at about the same time possibly due to human hunting, but also due to climate change. The last Woolly Rhino died in about 8,000 BC. Summers Place Auctions can offer an almost complete set of Ice Age animals which were originally displayed in the Museo del Mamut in Barcelona, which shut down in 2016. In addition to the skeletons, there will also be scientific reproductions of the Woolly Rhino, a family of four Mammoths and even a cave man, making the Ice Age scene complete. The Mammoth Museum was a unique hostorical and science museum based in a 13th century building in one of the oldest parts of the city.

There will also be several Mammoth tusks, Mammoth skin, a Giant Deer and Bison. Top prices are expected for the Mammoth skeleton at £50,000 – 80,000, the Aurochs at £10,000 – 15,000 and a Cave Bear at £6,000 – 10,000.

For further information on the auction, please visit www.summersplaceauctions.com or call 01403 331331.