Mammoth Tusk Found in Excavator Bucket in Siberia

2014/01/21

KEMEROVO, January 22 (RIA Novosti) – A huge fragment of a mammoth tusk has been dug out by an excavator in southwest Siberia’s Kemerovo Region, the head of a local museum said Tuesday.


“An operator of an excavator, collecting clay from the depth of about 2.5-3 meters, found an object resembling a mammoth tusk in the bucket of his vehicle,” said Anatoly Vasilyev, head of the local history and ethnography museum.


He said the tusk, albeit well-preserved, broke into several fragments when it was removed from the earth.


A fragment measuring about 50 centimeters was taken to the museum and will later be handed over to scientists for a comprehensive study.


Its age is tentatively estimated at 1-1.5 million years.


Excavator operators took smaller fragments as souvenirs.


Clay extraction continues in the area, but workers have been asked to be more careful.



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