A unique find from Kotelny Island was dubbed “Pavlov's mammoth”.
During an expedition to the New Siberian Islands, paleontologists of the Yakutia Academy of Sciences discovered a mammoth skeleton, which was preserved by about 40%. However, most of all scientists were interested in the footprints on the tusks, left, presumably, by ancient man. A group of paleontologists from the Yakutian Academy of Sciences and residents of the Allaikhovsky district of the republic worked on Kotelny Island from June 7 to 21. The expedition was carried out with the support of the republican branch of the Russian Geographical Society and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
The original purpose of the expedition was to excavate and extract the carcass of a dwarf mammoth found during last year's trip. The carcass is located in the intertidal zone of the northern part of the island, and scientists planned to gouge fragments of the bottom before the ice melted. However, nature decided in its own way, and at the beginning of June the air temperature at Kotelny rose to 20 degrees Celsius - a record for these places.
The expedition was carried out with the support of the republican branch of the Russian Geographical Society and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Photo: science.ykt.ru.
Upon arrival at the site, it was discovered that the rivers on the island had already opened up and water began to accumulate on the surface of the ocean. In a matter of hours, the island's snow cover disappeared. The ocean ice began to melt rapidly, which led to even greater difficulties. The place where the fragments of the carcass are located was flooded with water, under which a layer of ice 50-60 centimeters thick, covering the bottom, remained. It became obvious that it was impossible to extract the remains of the mammoth.
Residents of the Allaikhovsky district, who were part of the group, recalled that a year ago, ten kilometers from the camp, they saw fragments of a mammoth skull. The head of the expedition, a research engineer of the mammoth fauna study department of the Academy of Sciences of Yakutia, Innokenty Pavlov, decided to immediately move to this point.
Scientists managed to extract the skeleton of a mammoth, consisting of about 40% of the bones. Photo: science.ykt.ru.
- We dug up a piece of land with an area of 20 square meters. We managed to extract the skeleton of a mammoth, consisting of about 40% of the bones. It is noteworthy that traces of processing, presumably by ancient people, were found on the tusk fragments. Today a man would not work on a tusk in the tundra, but would take it to a hunting hut, a winter quarters. And in ancient times, people did not have a transport on which it would be possible to transport such heavy things. Therefore, people most likely processed the carcass in the same place. They took the manufactured tools with them, and left the remains. We found them exactly, - said Innokenty Pavlov.
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Scientists delivered 23.6 kg of mammoth tusk chips to Yakutsk for further research. Archaeologists will be involved in studying the traces of human impact. The exact age of the find will be shown by radiocarbon dating, which will be carried out jointly with colleagues from foreign scientific laboratories, according to the website of the Academy of Sciences of Yakutia.
The exact age of the find will be shown by radiocarbon dating. Photo: science.ykt.ru.
The rest of the mammoth skeleton will be delivered to Yakutsk from Tiksi in August 2019. The members of the expedition dubbed the find "Pavlov's Mammoth" in honor of the leader of the expedition.
Kotelny Island is one of the largest in the Novosibirsk archipelago. In the Pleistocene era, this territory was part of the land, therefore, the remains of ancient animals and traces of human activity are often found on the islands.
NINEL GUSEVA