An Austrian vintner renovating his cellar unearthed a trove ofwoolly mammothbones that could expand our understanding of the relationship between homo and theprehistoric beasts .
Andreas Pernerstorfer ’s wine maker is in the renowned winemaking and cultural part of Kamptal in northeastern Austria . After stumbling upon the huge finger cymbals in the dirt floor , he reported his discovery to Austria ’s Federal Monuments Office . The Austrian Archaeological Institute has been excavate the site since March 2024 to a depth of 55 feet below ground and says it ’s the first significant paleontology site found in Austria in a century .
The bones are believed to be between 30,000 and 40,000 years old and belong to at least three woolly mammoth . According toHannah Parow - Souchon , the paleontologist leading the excavation , the find is significant because gigantic castanets are seldom establish pack together . This could intend they were bunched there by humans , which could suggest they were hunt and massacre by humans ; the web site might be the remains of a Holocene Epoch cookout .
Most archeologist agree that humans gather in group and used lance and other puppet totake down woolly mammothsand other megafauna , which would have been huge sources of meat , hides , and bones to apply as rude material for puppet . This body process could have contributed to theanimals ’ extinguishing .
There issome debatewhether preying on the monolithic beasts was a steady practice forStone Agepeople , and scientific discipline is blurry about how a lot of simple humans could get the drib on an brute that stood 10 substructure marvellous , weighed as much as six tons , and had fearsome protective tusks . The operation would reveal a hatful about coordination and planning among Paleolithic the great unwashed .
Parow - Souchon say in a statement from the Austrian Academy of Sciences that it is potential that human position a trap for mammoth there . She also said it was the most significant uncovering of woolly gigantic remains in more than 100 years ; most such sites in Europe have been dug up and hollowed out , with their archaeological value lost over time .
This is not the first such find in Kamptal . About 150 years ago , relics of early human life — admit obdurate artifacts , jewelry fossils , and charcoal — were discovered there in a wine cellar next door .
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