A man renovating his wine cellar in Austria made an extraordinary discovery. It’s not the classic red or white – it’s the remains of prehistoric mammoths.
This discovery was called “an archaeological shock” by researchers from the Institute of Austrian Archeology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, OeAW.
Winemaker Andreas Pernerstorfer accidentally found some giant bones buried deep in his wine cellar in the village of Gobelsburg, Krems district, west of Vienna.
He reported his findings to authorities, who identified them as the bones of at least three Stone Age mammoths.
Mr Pernerstorfer told the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, ORF, that he was renovating his wine cellar when he made the discovery.
“I thought it was just a piece of wood left by my grandfather. But then I dug a little and remembered that my grandfather said he had found teeth. Then I immediately thought it was a mammoth,” he said.
Researchers from the Austrian Institute of Archeology have been excavating the bones since mid-May.
Archaeologists Thomas Einwögerer and Hannah Parow-Souchon say that stone and charcoal artifacts found at the site indicate the skeletons are between 30,000 and 40,000 years old.
The institute said the last time there was a similar discovery was 150 years ago, also in the Krems district.
“During the excavations there, the vaults in question were completely cleared. Other comparable sites in Austria and neighboring countries were mostly excavated at least 100 years ago and have largely been lost in modern research,” the organization said in a statement.
Ms Parow-Souchon said this was the first time they had been able to investigate such a find in Austria “using modern methods”.
Researchers say the discovery raises questions about how Stone Age humans hunted mammoths.
“We know that humans hunted mammoths, but we still know very little about how they did it,” Ms. Parow-Souchon said.
They believe the mammoths may have died right where the bones were found – pursued there by people who may have set traps for them.
Once exhumed, the bones will be taken to the Vienna Museum of Natural History.
