Ancient ‘weapon-making site’ discovered beside skeleton of woolly mammoth

Palaeontologists made the exceptionally rare discovery on Kotelny Island part of the New Siberian archipelago. The island is the site of a major new Russian military base in the Arctic, called Northern Shamrock.

Evidence on Arctic island show how people 10,000 or more years ago carved sharp slices 
off tusks to use for killing and cutting [Credit: Innokenty Pavlov]

The scientists dug out the remains of the mammoth skeleton from the thawing permafrost and found the tusk had evidence of human handiwork.

"Traces of processing, presumably by an ancient man, were found on the tusk fragments," said mammoth expert Innokenty Pavlov who found the remains.

Slivers of ivory have sharp edges, useful for butchering, but also used by ancient man for killing, for example in spears.

The scientists dug out the remains of the mammoth skeleton from the thawing permafrost 
[Credit: Innokenty Pavlov]

"The state of tusk remnants clearly points that the humans sliced it to make implements (and weapons)."

The palaeontologists are not certain yet that this beast was hunted and will undertake further study, but it appears to have a hunting wound on a lower rib.

The remains of the extinct beast weighing 23.6kg are being taken back to regional capital Yakutsk for further detailed study.

The ivory spades dated as 28,500 and 12,000 - 10,000 years were found in Yakutia 
[Credit: Michil Yakovlev]

"We will do radiocarbon dating of the remnants, but for now we can say that the age of the tusk is not less than 10,000 years old," he said.

The expedition was organised with the help of Russian Geographical Society and Russian Ministry of Defence. Pavlov and his team are from the Academy of Sciences of Yakutia.

In the Pleistocene Era, this island was connected to the mainland. It is a well-known mammoth necropolis. Other sites also show human activity here at the time.

The site is close to a pygmy woolly mammoth’s last resting place. The scientists had hoped to excavate the pygmy - up to 50,000 years old -  this summer but were unable to do so because its grave was waterlogged.

Author: Anna Liesowska | Source: The Siberian Times [June 23, 2019]