Huge trove of 15,000-year-old mammoth bones found in Mexico
Mexican anthropologists say they have found two human-built pits dug 15,000 years ago to trap mammoths.
Researchers from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History said Wednesday the pits were found during excavations on land that was to be used as a garbage dump.
The pits filled with bones from at least 14 mammoths were found in the neighbourhood of Tultepec, just north of Mexico City. Some of the animals were apparently butchered.
The first artificial traps for mammoths that have been recorded in the world have been discovered in the municipality of Tultepec, in the central State of Mexico, said Luis Cordoba, of the archaeological rescue direction of the National Institute of Anthropology and Mexico History. EPA/AAP
A general view of the remains of mammoth specimens found in artificial traps in the municipality of Tultepec. EPA/AAP
The pits were about 1.70m deep and 22m in diameter.
The institute said hunters may have chased mammoths into the traps. Remains of two other species that disappeared in the Americas — a horse and a camel — were also found.
It was unclear if plans for the dump would proceed.
In this undated photo released by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, INAH, mammoth bones lay at an excavation site in Tultepec, just north of Mexico City. AP/AAP
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