Scientists have found the most ancient evidence of mammoth tusks in Ukraine

Scientists believe that subjects aged 400 thousand years

Photo: Alexander Naumenko and Vadim Stepanchuk

In the territory of modern Khmelnytsky region, within the prehistoric parking lot, scientists found fragments of processed mammoth bones – they were left by ancient ancestors of people about 400 thousand years ago. Scientists believe that this is the most ancient evidence of the deliberate modification of the remains of mammoths.

This is stated in the study of Ukrainian scientists, which Posted In the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.

In the course of work, scientists studied artifacts from mammoth bones, which were found in the parking lot of the Lower Paleolithic, for which scientists usually do not set clear time limits, since the technologies of tool production have occurred in excellent periods in different regions.

Lower Paleolithic traditionally divided At the Oldujaya stage (about 2.6 million years ago to 1 million years ago), during which circular tools appeared.

Also within this period are the Ashelsky stage (oriented from 1.7-1.5 million years ago to 250-200 thousand years ago), when the ancestors of people created more complex hand axes and tools for chopping.

In the parking lot, Medzibizh and scientists have found mammoth bones, which used the methods that usually create stone artifacts. In particular, it is a technique of bipolar pruning – the splitting of solid materials, which is carried out, struck on the raw material, which is placed on a solid base.

Oleksandr Naumenko, co -author of the research from the National Museum of History of Ukraine explainedthat the fresh mammoth tusk is usually too solid and strong, so it requires pre -preparation before processing.

The experiments of scientists who should publish later showed that the ancestors of people in Medzibozh and split the weathered fragment of tusks, because in this state the material « is much better than shock processing. »

”Why are ancient Hominins (the subfamily of the primates, from which only the Homo sapiens – ed. Of course, you want to imagine ancient people who made toys, but in my opinion, this concerns the raw material strategy « – added Alexander Naumenko.

The scientist suggests that a large number of ways of processing materials could lead to a flexible technological strategy of residents of Medzibozh A, a low level of selection, a relative lack of specialization and standardization of tool production.

« The coolest objects around which the vast majority of the analytics are unfolding is bipolar Nucleus and edge. You can look at simplified artifact models by link « – added the scientist.

Earlier we toldwhether half of humanity really comes from Ukraine.