Austrian man stumbles upon ‘sensational’ mammoth fossil whereas renovating wine cellar

An Austrian man has uncovered mammoth bones relationship again tens of 1000’s of years whereas renovating his wine cellar, in what archaeologists are calling probably the most important fossil discover of its sort in over a century.

The “sensational” discovery has been dated by specialists from the Austrian Archaeological Institute utilizing stone artifacts and charcoal discovered on the web site, which recommend that the mammoth bones are between 30,000 and 40,000 years outdated.

The location contains a “important bone layer” containing the stays of at the very least three completely different mammoths, making it an “archaeological sensation,” researchers say.

“I assumed it was only a piece of wooden left by my grandfather. However then I dug it out a bit after which I remembered that previously my grandfather mentioned he had discovered tooth,” winemaker Andreas Pernerstorfer instructed the Austrian Broadcasting Company.

“After which I instantly thought it was a mammoth,” Mr Pernerstorfer added.

The final time such an archaeological discover was made in Austria was 150 years in the past, researchers say.

On the time, archaeologists uncovered one other thick layer of bones together with flint artifacts, ornamental fossils, and charcoal in an adjoining cellar in Gobelsburg.

“Such a dense bone layer of mammoths is uncommon,” Hannah Parow-Souchon, who led the archaeological dig, mentioned in a press release.

“It’s the primary time we’ve been capable of examine one thing like this in Austria utilizing trendy strategies,” Dr Parow-Souchon added.

Most elderly cellars of this sort in Austria and neighbouring international locations have been fully cleared out as a part of excavations performed over a century in the past, and have been considered “largely misplaced to trendy analysis,” scientists say.

Again then, the setting through which the fossils have been discovered and their situation have been additionally hardly ever recorded.

Now, the brand new findings of mammoth bones together with stone instruments elevate many questions, together with how Stone Age folks hunted these big animals.

“We all know that people hunted mammoths, however we nonetheless know little or no about how they did it,” Dr Parow-Souchon mentioned.

Researchers suspect the place the place they discovered the mammoth bones within the newest dig might be the place the place the animals died after Stone Age people chased them there and set a lure for them.

They hope to evaluate the fossils additional and ultimately hand the bones over to the Pure Historical past Museum Vienna, the place they are going to be restored.