200 Mammoth Skeletons Found at Construction Site – NRK Urix – Foreign News and Documentaries



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The find is now the largest of its kind, reports the AP news agency. Archaeologists working at the site believe they will find many more.

The site where the new Santa Lucia airport will be built was at one time near a lake, where mammoths were likely stuck in mud.

According to archaeologist Rubén Manzanilla López, several traces of human activity have been found, including tools made from mammoth bones.

They have also found several pits that probably served as traps and signs that the mammoths were cut up by humans after dying in the mud.

Similar traces have also been found in other parts of Mexico.

Mammutskjeletter i Mexico

Archaeologists believe they have found evidence that humans have captured and cut mammoths. They have also found skeletons of horses, camels and bison.

Photo: Marco Ugarte / AP

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Archaeologists working at the site hope that the finds may shed light on why the mammoth became extinct between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago.

– There is an eternal discussion about what caused the extinction of these animals, be it climate change or humans. I think the conclusion in the end will be that it was a combination of climate change and human presence, says paleontologist Joaquín Arroyo Cabrales.

Finds of large groups of dead mammoths are rare. Similar discoveries have been made in Siberia and outside of Los Angeles, but this is much larger.

According to Captain Jesús Cantoral of the Mexican Army, who is leading the construction of the airport, more and more skeletons are found.

Every time an area is to be excavated, it must be examined. However, the construction site is so large that work can continue elsewhere while archaeologists take over the finds.

The airport is scheduled for completion in 2022.

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