TEETH and bones from late Ice Age animals, including hyenas, deer and woolly rhinos, have been discovered in a cave in South Devon.

The two-week dig at Kents Cavern has also unearthed the UK's first complete 15,000-year-old sagaie – a spear point made of reindeer antler.

James Hull, general manager of the prehistoric caves, said: "It's a very exciting excavation. Unfortunately, we have not as yet found any evidence of Neanderthal Man but this dig is ongoing if we can get permission to have another excavation some time next year.

"It has been a fantastic experience for our visitors who have had the rare opportunity to see an excavation first hand in the caves. The previous one was 80 years ago.

"It's been very fortunate that the discoveries that have come out are going to give us more insight into the history of the cave and fascinating prehistoric animals."

The dig at the award-winning tourist attraction is part of a study looking into when and why Neanderthals became extinct. Some items found during the privately funded dig have been sent away after cleaning for radiocarbon dating to accurately check their age.

Dr Paul Pettitt, director of the dig, said the teeth and bones from the hyena could date back 25,000 years.

The team hopes to discover when human beings first came to the UK and if they were connected with the death of Neanderthal Man, as well as finding out more about the nature of later Ice Age life in the cave.

Dr Pettitt said: "Our excavation is still in its early days but has already unearthed excellently preserved fossils and a spear point of antler from the Ice Age.

"Our research will dramatically improve our understanding of life between 10,000 and 50,000 years ago."

Excavators in Victorian times discovered that humans had been around longer than the previously estimated time of 6,000 years, and yielded rich Neanderthal and Homo sapien archaeology.

The debate over what killed off Neanderthal Man has intensified in recent years. Theories range from being killed off by Homo sapiens, disease and climate change to interbreeding with the early humans.

Though they had larger brains than humans and wore clothes and made tools, it is thought Neanderthals – named after the area of Germany where bones were first discovered – lacked our level of social interaction and may not have been capable of complex speech. It is thought they died out completely 30,000 years ago.