![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SEI_300447714-cec8.jpg\")
\n\t\tArchaeologists believe a 2.5 metre-long tusk was from a woolly mammoth butchered by humans 25,000 years ago (Picture: SWNS)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tArchaeologists believe a 2.5 metre-long tusk was from a woolly mammoth butchered by humans 25,000 years ago (Picture: SWNS)<\/p>\n
A woolly mammoth whose remains were found recently was likely butchered by our ancestors 25,000 years ago, new research has suggested.<\/p>\n
Archaeologists found an \u2018exceptionally well-preserved\u2019 twisted 2.5 metre tusk on a construction site in the village of Taimering in Bavaria, Germany<\/a>, six years ago.<\/p>\n Another 70 bones and fragments, predominantly from the rib cage, hand and foot, were also found nearby.<\/p>\n Experts believe the specimens belonged to a \u2018very large but not yet fully grown\u2019 mammoth around three metres tall.<\/p>\n The animal likely died very close to the discovery site, according to a report published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.<\/p>\n Dr Kerstin Pasda, the report\u2019s lead author, said: \u2018The bone surfaces, which have been preserved intact down to the finest detail, rule out both prolonged transport by water and disarticulation by predators.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018The animal was buried in the sediments of a pond or a slow-flowing tributary of the prehistoric Danube River during the Ice Age.\u2019<\/p>\n Now researchers believe cut marks found on the tusk may have been caused by humans, most likely the work<\/a> of Paleolithic hunters who butchered the animal.<\/p>\n One of the rib bones was found to have been used as a cutting board.<\/p>\n However, it remains unknown whether humans actually killed the animal or simply made use of its carcass.<\/p>\n \u2018Whether the mammoth was killed by humans or had already been dead when people processed the carcass remains unclear\u2019, Dr Pasda said.<\/p>\n Pollen analysis showed the mammoth\u2019s habitat had herbaceous tundra-like vegetation.<\/p>\n \t\t The mammoth steppe, or steppe tundra, was a cold, dry and treeless ecosystem that spanned from Scandinavia<\/a> to the southern Alps 20,000 to 30,000 years ago.<\/p>\n Paleontologist Dr Gertrud R\u00f6ssner said the discovery of the animal was \u2018extremely rare\u2019 as most large mammoth specimens are typically found in the east and Eurasia.<\/p>\n Professor Andreas Maier from the University of Cologne<\/a> said there was little evidence of human activity in the steppe tundra in that period of time, given that hunter-gatherers migrated south and east due to climate change<\/a>.<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SEI_300447922-475a.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe \u2018exceptionally well-preserved\u2019 specimen was discovered on a building site in Taimering in Bavaria, Germany (Picture: BLfD\/SWNS)<\/p>\n![\"Parallel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SEI_300447874-18ad.jpg\")
\n\t\tParallel cut marks on the mammoth\u2019s rib indicate some form of human activity, although it is unclear whether the animal was killed by hunters (Picture: FAU Erlangen-N\u00fcrnberg\/SWNS)<\/p>\n
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