A woolly mammoth whose remains were found recently was likely butchered by our ancestors 25,000 years ago, new research has suggested.
Archaeologists found an ‘exceptionally well-preserved’ twisted 2.5 metre tusk on a construction site in the village of Taimering in Bavaria, Germany, six years ago.
Another 70 bones and fragments, predominantly from the rib cage, hand and foot, were also found nearby.
Experts believe the specimens belonged to a ‘very large but not yet fully grown’ mammoth around three metres tall.
The animal likely died very close to the discovery site, according to a report published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
Dr Kerstin Pasda, the report’s lead author, said: ‘The bone surfaces, which have been preserved intact down to the finest detail, rule out both prolonged transport by water and disarticulation by predators.
‘The animal was buried in the sediments of a pond or a slow-flowing tributary of the prehistoric Danube River during the Ice Age.’
Now researchers believe cut marks found on the tusk may have been caused by humans, most likely the work of Paleolithic hunters who butchered the animal.
One of the rib bones was found to have been used as a cutting board.
However, it remains unknown whether humans actually killed the animal or simply made use of its carcass.
‘Whether the mammoth was killed by humans or had already been dead when people processed the carcass remains unclear’, Dr Pasda said.
Pollen analysis showed the mammoth’s habitat had herbaceous tundra-like vegetation.
The mammoth steppe, or steppe tundra, was a cold, dry and treeless ecosystem that spanned from Scandinavia to the southern Alps 20,000 to 30,000 years ago.
Paleontologist Dr Gertrud Rössner said the discovery of the animal was ‘extremely rare’ as most large mammoth specimens are typically found in the east and Eurasia.
Professor Andreas Maier from the University of Cologne said there was little evidence of human activity in the steppe tundra in that period of time, given that hunter-gatherers migrated south and east due to climate change.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.