Bones of hunted mammoth show early human presence in Arctic

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Bones of hunted mammoth show early human presence in Arctic

Malcolm Ritter, Ap Science Writer

Updated 3:30 pm, Thursday, January 14, 2016

NEW YORK (AP) — The remains of a mammoth that was hunted down about 45,000 years ago have revealed the earliest known evidence of humans in the Arctic.

Marks on the bones, found in far northern Russia, indicate the creature was stabbed and butchered. The tip of a tusk was damaged in a way that suggests human activity, perhaps to make ivory tools.

With a minimal age estimate of 45,000 years, the discovery extends the record of human presence in the Arctic by at least about 5,000 years.

The site in Siberia, near the Kara Sea, is also by far the northernmost sign of human presence in Eurasia before 40,000 years ago, Vladimir Pitulko of the Russian Academy of Science in St. Petersburg and co-authors reported in a paper released Thursday by the journal Science.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/science/article/Bones-of-hunted-mammoth-show-early-human-presence-6759178.php

[hibbing]

1. cool

I wouldn't want to be living in the region today with all the high tech clothing and other modern benefits we have. I can't imagine how those people lived there. Thanks for posting this.

Peace

[BlueMTexpat]

2. I spent part of yesterday at a

local exhibition of the Lascaux cave paintings. https://www.palexpo.ch/en/agenda/lascaux

In comparison to the OP discovery, Lascaux is latter-day, roughly dated around 17,000+ years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux But it's still pretty fabulous.

I hadn't realized until yesterday that during the Lascaux era, Switzerland was still completely covered by an ice cap. http://history-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch/prehistory-lake-dwellings.html Anyway, that is the Swiss "excuse" for not having cave painting sites, LOL.

In the fall of 2014, I visited Gletterens, one of the reconstructed Swiss lake swelling sites (from about 4000+ BCE). http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/lake-dwellings-reveal-hidden-past/30542748

Travel to the Perigord region in France is on my bucket list. http://www.hominides.com/html/lieux/perigord-visit-prehistory.php

Thanks so much for the interesting OP - and for all the interesting and informative OPs you post.