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| The mammoth tusk unearthed in Tarragona |
Archaeologists working at a site in Tarragona, in Cataluña, have made a find which they describe as ‘of great importance’ in the world of palaeontology: the remains of a mammoth which they believe could be more than one million years old. They found a tusk from ‘Mammuthus meridionalis,’ and two teeth, which could be from the same animal.
Flint tools were unearthed at a higher level which could provide evidence of human habitation in the area more than half a million years ago. Roman ceramics were also discovered.
The find was made on the finca La Boella, between La Canonja and Tarragona.
The head of the excavation, Josep Vallverdú, described the discovery as very important in providing more knowledge about the first human migrations from Africa to Europe over one million years ago.
Mammuthus meridionalis, otherwise known as the Southern Mammoth, was double the size of today’s elephants: it weighed up to 12 tons and could reach a height of 4.5 metres.
Meanwhile carbon 14 dating has been used by Barcelona University to date the death of some animals recently found in the Cova del Paralló cave in Valencia.
The location was first used 27,000 years ago by the first Sapiens Sapeins, and the latest carbon dating of foodstuffs ingested by the animals puts the date at 12,410 years ago.
Excavations at the cave began 78 years ago and now the site is considered to be one of the most important in Europe.
Source: Typically Spanish