Human
Massive Prehistoric Elephant Slaughtered by Early Humans During Hunt
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Sep 19, 2013 11:44 AM EDT
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, early humans walked the Earth. Living thousands of years before Neanderthals, these humans hunted for their food. Now, archaeologists have found that these early humans not only worked together in groups, but were able to kill animals as large as the prehistoric elephant.
The prehistoric elephant, called the straight-tusked elephant, was a massive beast. It was about twice the size of today's African elephant and weighed four times as much as a family car. Yet it appears that early humans were able to successfully hunt this creature in the past.
This latest discovery comes after archaeologists unearthed a deep sequence of deposits containing the elephant remains along with numerous flint tools and a range of other species. The other species included wild aurochs, extinct forms of rhinoceros and lion, Barbary macaque, beaver, rabbit, various forms of vole and shrew and a diverse range of snails.
"Early hominins of this period would have depended on nutrition from large herbivores," said Francis Wenban-Smith, one of the archaeologists, in a news release. "The key evidence for elephant hunting is that, of the few prehistoric butchered elephant carcasses that have been found across Europe, they are almost all large males in their prime, a pattern that does not suggest natural death and scavenging. Although it seem incredible that they could have killed such an animal, it must have been possible with wooden spears...We know hominins of this period had these, and an elephant skeleton with a wooden spear through its ribs was found at the site of Lehringen in Germany in 1948."
In fact, the findings help clarify how these early humans were so successful. While humans became locally extinct in Northern Europe during the great ice age about 450,000 years ago, they managed to rebound. The ability to hunt large mammals, such as these elephants, would explain how these people managed to push northward into what is now Britain.
The findings reveal a little more about how humans managed to survive so many years ago. In addition, it shows that people worked in groups in order to manage to bring down game as large as these elephants.
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First Posted: Sep 19, 2013 11:44 AM EDT
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, early humans walked the Earth. Living thousands of years before Neanderthals, these humans hunted for their food. Now, archaeologists have found that these early humans not only worked together in groups, but were able to kill animals as large as the prehistoric elephant.
The prehistoric elephant, called the straight-tusked elephant, was a massive beast. It was about twice the size of today's African elephant and weighed four times as much as a family car. Yet it appears that early humans were able to successfully hunt this creature in the past.
This latest discovery comes after archaeologists unearthed a deep sequence of deposits containing the elephant remains along with numerous flint tools and a range of other species. The other species included wild aurochs, extinct forms of rhinoceros and lion, Barbary macaque, beaver, rabbit, various forms of vole and shrew and a diverse range of snails.
"Early hominins of this period would have depended on nutrition from large herbivores," said Francis Wenban-Smith, one of the archaeologists, in a news release. "The key evidence for elephant hunting is that, of the few prehistoric butchered elephant carcasses that have been found across Europe, they are almost all large males in their prime, a pattern that does not suggest natural death and scavenging. Although it seem incredible that they could have killed such an animal, it must have been possible with wooden spears...We know hominins of this period had these, and an elephant skeleton with a wooden spear through its ribs was found at the site of Lehringen in Germany in 1948."
In fact, the findings help clarify how these early humans were so successful. While humans became locally extinct in Northern Europe during the great ice age about 450,000 years ago, they managed to rebound. The ability to hunt large mammals, such as these elephants, would explain how these people managed to push northward into what is now Britain.
The findings reveal a little more about how humans managed to survive so many years ago. In addition, it shows that people worked in groups in order to manage to bring down game as large as these elephants.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone