The oldest traces of mammoth bone processing were found in the Khmelnytskyi region — people did it hundreds of thousands of years ago

In the village of Medzhybizh (Khmelnytskyi region), Ukrainian archaeologists have discovered the oldest traces of mammoth bone processing by ancient people. The age of the finds may reach 400 000 years.

This is stated in a study published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.

Scientists analyzed the remains of a steppe mammoth from the site of primitive people in Medzhybizh. This is a site from the Early Paleolithic, that is, the Old Stone Age. There, they found 24 small fragments of tusks, no more than five centimeters long. Eleven of the finds had traces of processing, in particular, they were sharpened on both sides.

The researchers called the point a small piece of tusk whose edges meet at a sharp angle. It is not yet known whether it was actually used for a spear. Another artifact was oval.

It is unclear what ancient people made from animal bones. It is assumed that the objects found may not have been useful. Perhaps they were used by young people to learn how to work with harder materials, such as stone. On the other hand, the bones could have been used because there was a lack of better materials in the region.

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