'Boxgrove Man' lived half a million years ago (Image: English Heritage)

The fossilised specimen of "Boxgrove Man", a hominid of the species Homo heidelbergensis, was found near Chichester in Sussex in 1993.

The species is thought to have been the forerunner of Neanderthals in Europe.

The archaeologist who found the hominid's shin bone said restoration of the quarry would start soon.

"Further research excavations which are likely to reveal more astonishing finds can then take place," said Mark Roberts, principal research fellow at the University College London Institute of Archaeology, and Boxgrove Project Director.

Decades of digging

He and his colleagues believe the site was a spring or water hole where hominid hunters butchered giant deer and rhinos.

The site has yielded two teeth from another H. heidelbergensis individual and primitive flint and antler tools used to wound and stab animals.

The remains - all about 500,000 years old - were found 14 metres below ground.

'Further excavations are likely to reveal more astonishing finds' (Image: English Heritage)

Most of the quarry will now be restored to return the landscape to its original condition, but a small section will be preserved for further digging.

English Heritage said there were decades of excavation to be done at Boxgrove.

"It may take 100 or even 200 years to exhaust all the information here, such is its importance and value," said Andy Brown, English Heritage's assistant regional director.

"This is a very important day for us," he said.

The quarry's previous owners, Hanson Aggregates, stopped work at the eight-hectare site in 1993 and have worked with English Heritage to secure the area.