Latest News

  • Home
  • Global
  • Eerie Circle Built From Mammoth Bones Reveals New Clues About Survival in The Ice Age
Eerie Circle Built From Mammoth Bones Reveals New Clues About Survival in The Ice Age
Tuesday, March 31, 2020 IST
Eerie Circle Built From Mammoth Bones Reveals New Clues About Survival in The Ice Age

Long before the comfort of modern amenities, ancient human communities were capable of living in some truly harsh and frigid environments.

 
 

On the central Russian Plain, a mysterious ring of mammoth bones has been dated to the peak of the last European ice age, when winter temperatures regularly reached -20 degrees Celsius or lower.
 
The site where this ancient structure was found - on the west bank of the Don River, about 500 kilometres (300 miles) south of Moscow - is known as Kostenki 11. The area has a long history of excavation, dating back to the 1700s; early structures were found there during digs in the 1950s and 60s.
 
Thanks to radiocarbon dating, a new study has revealed the discovery of the oldest known bone circle built by modern humans on the Russian Plain; there are about 70 of these mysterious structures littered throughout the area.
 
At more than 20,000 years old, this one particular site would have just started going up as the last ice age reached its coldest and most severe yet.
 
"Archaeology is showing us more about how our ancestors survived in this desperately cold and hostile environment at the climax of the last ice age," says palaeolithic archaeologist Alexander Pryor from the University of Exeter.
 
"Most other places at similar latitudes in Europe had been abandoned by this time, but these groups had managed to adapt to find food, shelter and water."
 
Of course, even these few remaining communities didn't last forever. Eventually, the bone circles were abandoned. But for a while there at least, they were important sites for humans.
 
The oldest continuous bone circle, which stretches 12.5 metres in diameter (41 feet), appears to be made almost exclusively of mammoth bones, along with a smattering of bones from reindeer, horse, bear, wolf, red fox and arctic fox; the archaeologists have identified a total of 51 lower jaws and 64 individual skulls from mammoths.
 
At the edge of the circle, three large pits were revealed as well, filled with large mammoth bones.
 
 
Using radiocarbon dating of fragments of charcoal found among the remains, the research team confirmed there was a human presence on the Russian Plain during a time when similar latitudes in Europe were already abandoned.
 
"Yet despite this cold, the widespread distribution of charcoal and burnt bone at Kostenki 11 indicates the availability of wood fuel and the sustained use of mixed-fuel (wood and bone) fires," the authors write in their study.

 
 

In fact, this is only the second mammoth-bone circle at which habitual wood burning has been identified. And it's some 5,000 years older than the other one.
 
The discovery adds weight to the idea that conifer trees survived on the Russian mammoth steppe throughout the last glacial cycle. Wood to burn is a prerequisite for many modern hunter-gatherers in high-latitude cold climates, and the availability of trees in this part of the world is a possible reason for why humans persisted here for so much longer than other areas of northern Europe.
 
Apart from burned wood, the team also identified several plants which could have been used for poisons, medicines, string or fabric, as well as over 50 small, charred seeds. It's still unclear if these were brought by humans or dropped here by randomness, although other remains were clearly manufactured.
 
More than 300 tiny stone and flint chips suggest the people here once used to knap stone tools, likely for butchering animals and scraping hides.
 
 
"What might have brought ancient hunter gatherers to this site?" asks Pryor.
 
"One possibility is that the mammoths and humans could have come to the area en masse because it had a natural spring that would have provided unfrozen liquid water throughout the winter - rare in this period of extreme cold."
 
For now, the purpose of this bone circle remains a mystery.

 
 
 
 
 

Related Topics

 
 
 

Trending News & Articles

 Article
'Worse than prison': A rare look inside China's detention camps to 'brainwash' Muslims

ALMATY: Hour upon hour, day upon day, Omir Bekali and other detainees in far western China's new indoctrination camps had to disavow the...

Recently posted . 199K views . 1 min read
 

 Article
What The Shape Of Your Belly Button Says About Your Health

If you have payed attention to the belly buttons of people on the beach or the members of your family, you have probably noticed that they have different shapes and...

Recently posted . 8K views . 2 min read
 

 Article
Top 10 Horrifying Acts of Chemical Warfare and Gas Attacks

In this age of terror, there might be nothing more terrifying than the thought of an attack carried out with chemical weapons. We’ve all heard the horrific ...

Recently posted . 3K views . 4 min read
 

 Article
Top 10 Best Gym Equipment Brands in India 2018

Body fitness is one thing that everyone wants to maintain irrespective of age. Going to the gym and doing some great exercise always helps to maintain your body fit...

Recently posted . 3K views . 2 min read
 

 
 

More in Global

 Article
Scientists Inject Human Cells Into Pig Embryo To Create First Human-Pig Hybrid

In a move that can only be deemed controversial, the first pig-human hybrid has been created in a lab. Researchers successfully grew human cells inside early-stage ...

Recently posted. 795 views . 1 min read
 

 Article
T Series inches closer to YouTube crown; game over for PewDiePie?

T Series has bounced back and is expected to soon overtake Pewds. 

Recently posted. 643 views . 0 min read
 

 Article
For The First Time Ever, Scientists Develop A Stable Ring of Carbon

Carbon is one of the most abundant elements on Earth, with so many compounds it forms and all life on Earth being carbon-based it is the King of Elements. Carbon th...

Recently posted. 554 views . 2 min read
 

 Photo
Top Honeymoon Destinations in India



Recently posted . 1K views
 

 Reviews
The Best 5 Camping Tents in India 2018 – Reviews & Buying Guide



Recently posted . 1K views . 99 min read
 

 Reviews
Leaseweb hosting review



Recently posted . 1K views . 67 min read
 

 Article
Amazon sellers are begging people to delete negative reviews and offering to double refunds if they do, a report says

Some Amazon sellers are tracking down customers who leave bad reviews and begging them to remove their posts, sometimes offering them refunds worth more than the it...

Recently posted. 646 views . 1 min read
 

 Article
New rule allows deportation if H-1B extension is rejected

HIGHLIGHTS   *Many H-1B holders could face deportation if their application for extension or ...

Recently posted. 643 views . 3 min read
 

 
 
 

   Prashnavali

  Thought of the Day

A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.
Anonymous

Be the first one to comment on this story

Close
Post Comment
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST


ads
Back To Top