Winemaker discovers 40,000-year-old mammoth bones in wine cellar
The remains of three mammoths have been found in Lower Austria. Archaeologists report the discovery of the century.
Archaeologists see sensational find in wine cellar
Image: OeAW
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During renovation work on a wine cellar in Austria, a winemaker came across giant bones that archaeologists dated as 30,000 to 40,000 years old. Andreas Bernersdorfer, a winemaker, found the bones while excavating the land. His grandfather once found the mummy’s teeth and reported that the bones must have come from one of them.
Three animals are said to have been buried here.
Image: OeAW
To the Federal Monuments Office, after archaeologists reported the find at Koblesburg Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) ÖAW announced that excavations had begun in mid-May. The discovery was surprising. The mammoth remains are now considered “the most important discovery of its kind in over 100 years”. The first was about discovery “Lower Austrian News” reported.
Experts have now discovered several layers containing the remains of gigantic Ice Age animals. There are probably bones of at least three animals. “Such a thick layer of mammoth bones is rare,” said Hanna Barrow-Suchen, head of the excavation, which was funded by the Federal Monuments Office and the state of Lower Austria. “It could be the site where Neolithic men once trapped and killed the massive animals. The unusual discovery situation provides new clues about how people would have organized their hunting of animals.” The researchers believed that providing
Austrian researchers discovered the bones.
Image: OeAW
The last comparable find in Austria is not far from the current excavation site. 150 years ago, according to ÖAW, a cultural layer containing a thick layer of bones and flint artefacts, jewelry fossils and charcoal was discovered in a wine cellar in Koblesburg. After archaeologists examine the new find, the bones will be handed over to the Natural History Museum (NHM) Vienna for restoration.
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