A person who was renovating his wine cellar in Austria has made a rare discovery. It wasn’t a classic purple or white – however the stays of prehistoric mammoths.
The discover has been known as an “archaeological sensation” by researchers from the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the OeAW.
The winemaker, Andreas Pernerstorfer, got here throughout plenty of large bones, buried deep in his wine cellar within the village of Gobelsburg, within the district of Krems, west of Vienna.
He reported his discover to the authorities, who recognized them because the bones of no less than three Stone Age mammoths.
Mr Pernerstorfer instructed the Austrian Broadcasting Company, ORF, that he was renovating his wine cellar when he made the invention.
“I believed 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 enamel. After which I instantly thought it was a mammoth,” he mentioned.
Researchers from the Austrian Archaeological Institute have been excavating the bones for the reason that center of Could.
Archaeologists Thomas Einwögerer and Hannah Parow-Souchon say that stone artefacts and charcoal discovered on the website point out that the bones are between 30,000 and 40,000 years previous.
The Institute says the final time there was a comparable discovery was 150 years in the past, additionally within the district of Krems.
“Through the excavation there, the cellars in query have been fully cleared out. Different comparable websites in Austria and neighbouring nations have been principally excavated no less than 100 years in the past and have largely been misplaced to trendy analysis,” it mentioned in a press release.
Ms Parow-Souchon mentioned it was the primary time they’d been in a position to examine such a discover in Austria “utilizing trendy strategies”.
Researchers say the invention raises questions on how Stone Age individuals hunted mammoths.
“We all know that people hunted mammoths, however we nonetheless know little or no about how they did it,” Ms Parow-Souchon mentioned.
They consider the mammoths might have died on the spot the place the bones have been discovered – chased there by people who could have set a lure for them.
As soon as they’re excavated, the bones will likely be taken to the Vienna Museum of Pure Historical past.
