In Mexico, found a huge cemetery of mammoths
(ORDO NEWS) — Most of the animals, apparently, were killed during the hunting of people.
The remains of more than 60 individuals of the mammoths of Columbus or Colombian mammoths (Mammuthus columbi) werefoundin 2019 during land clearing for the new Felipe Angeles international airport. Now archaeologists have presented and described their findings.
In addition to numerous bones, skulls and tusks of mammoths, the remains of a bison, a camel, a horse, as well as 15 human skulls, presumably pre-Hispanic burials, were found. Among other finds were vessels, obsidian and the remains of dogs. It is estimated that some bones can be up to 35,000 years old.
Restos de 60 mamuts fueron encontrados en la zona de obras del aeropuerto de Santa Lucía.
El hallazgo fue realizado por expertos del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. pic.twitter.com/r8eTqg7GfI— Monica Garza (@monicagarzag) May 21, 2020
In addition, in the vicinity of Tultepec, north of Mexico City, archaeologists have found two artificial pits dug 15,000 years ago. The pits were filled with approximately 800 bones of at least 14 mammoths. Some of the animals were clearly killed.
“The number of remains was higher than we expected. We have discovered more than 60 mammoths and other fauna from the Pleistocene period, ”said Sanchez Nava, a fellow at the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
Scientists suggest that this area was rich in fauna, since the now-dried lake Xaltocan was located nearby. People living in this region could use this prehistoric path of mammoth migration and dig holes specifically for them to fall into the trap and become vulnerable prey.
Unlike woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius ), the mammoths of Columbus had almost no wool. This animal was one of the largest representatives of the elephant family that have ever existed.
The height at the withers of adult males reached four meters, and their weight was about ten tons. Mammoth Columbus from the Middle Pleistocene lived in the vast expanses of North America. Its extinction occurred at the end of the Pleistocene a little more than ten thousand years ago.
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