Hundreds of mammoth bones discovered in Austrian wine cellar

Hundreds of mammoth bones have been uncovered in an Austrian wine cellar in a discovery dubbed an ‘archaeological sensation’.

According to experts, the remains are between 30,000 and 40,000 years old.

Andreas Pernerstorfer made the incredible discovery while renovating his wine cellar in the village of Gobelsburg, about 70 kilometers northwest of Vienna, in March.

The find has been described as the most important of its kind in more than a century, with researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), who are now recovering the bones, describing it as an “archaeological sensation”, according to a report published on Wednesday research. press release.

Pernerstorfer had decided to do some work to level the floor in the basement, archaeologist Hannah Parow-Souchon, a researcher with the OeAW, told CNN in a video call on Thursday.

“He wanted to level the floor of his wine cellar because it was sloping and he removed some concrete in the middle,” she said.

“More or less immediately he found the bones, which he initially thought were wood. Then he looked closer and remembered a story about his grandfather expanding the basement in the 1960s and finding some mammoth molars.”

Pernerstorfer reported the find to the Federal Monuments Office, which referred him to the OeAW because, as Parow-Souchon told CNN, “we are experts on the Stone Age.”

At the beginning of May, she and her team of fellow archaeologists started an excavation. “It quickly became clear that it wasn’t just a few mammoth bones, but a lot of mammoth bones,” she said.

Parow-Souchon said they have “at least 300 bones,” which were found tightly packed.

The excavated area is relatively small, so the team hopes to return later this summer to continue their research. - H. Parow-Souchon/OeAW-OeAI — The excavated area is relatively small, so the team hopes to return later this summer to continue their research. – H. Parow-Souchon/OeAW-OeAI

“We think we mainly have the complete animals. They are not anatomically connected, but we probably have all the parts,” she said, adding that the recovered loot includes some rare finds, including a lingual (tongue) bone.”

The archaeologists believe the bones come from three separate mammoths. The site they excavated was just 12 square metres, but they hope to return in August to continue their search.

“I enjoy being an archaeologist. I have dug up a lot of exciting things, but I always wanted to dig up a mammoth,” said Parow-Souchon, adding that the discovery of the mammoth bone was a first for her. “I’m very happy, I can’t deny it,” she said.

More than 300 tightly packed bones have been discovered, but there are likely significantly more buried beneath the cellar. - H. Parow-Souchon/OeAW-OeAI — More than 300 tightly packed bones have been discovered, but there are likely significantly more buried beneath the cellar. – H. Parow-Souchon/OeAW-OeAI

Similar sites elsewhere in Austria and in neighboring countries were largely excavated more than 100 years ago, meaning they are not available for modern research.

“It is the first time that we have been able to investigate something like this in Austria with modern methods. It is a unique opportunity for research,” Parow-Souchon said in the press release.

The excavations, funded by the Federal Monuments Office and the Province of Lower Austria, raise many questions, including whether these animals were killed by Stone Age hunters.

“We know that people hunted mammoths, but we still know very little about how they did it,” says Parow-Souchon, adding that a trap for the animals may have been set at this site.

Once the researchers have completed their work, the bones will be passed on to the Natural History Museum Vienna for restoration.

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