An ancient tusk from a mammoth, several thousand years old, has been discovered by a machine operator in Northern Jutland. The find was made in Siem Gravel Pit near Terndrup, Northern Jutland, and has now been handed over to the Natural History Museum in Aarhus. This was announced by the museum in a press release. Experts believe that the tusk may originate from a woolly mammoth that lived during the Weichselian glaciation, which ended around 11,700 years before our era. Siem Gravel Pit is a meltwater gravel pit from the Weichselian glaciation, supporting the theory that the tusk may belong to a woolly mammoth. These mammoths became extinct around 10,000 years ago and are part of the elephant family. Their tusks could measure up to four meters in length. The recently found tusk, however, is not as long, but according to the Natural History Museum, a fresh break on the tusk suggests that it could have originally been larger.
The find was made by machine operator Kristian Lang Hedegaard. – It’s fantastic what can pop up on an ordinary workday. One does not expect that prehistory suddenly emerges from the gravel, he says in the press release. – At first, we thought it was a branch, but it turned out to be something historic. At the Natural History Museum in Aarhus, there is great excitement over the find, which will be added to the museum’s collection. Simon Kongshøj Callesen, who is a collection assistant and biologist specializing in paleontology, says: – It is a unique find. Not many similar finds have been made in Denmark. – Now we will ensure that the tusk does not crack further. After that, we will register it, pack it up, and hope that it can be used in a research context, which we are always very open to, he says.