40,000 years old: Mammoth bones discovered during construction work in wine cellar

After the discovery was reported to the Federal Monuments Office, researchers from the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI) of the Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) began excavations in mid-May. It is now assumed that the mammoth remains are the “most significant discovery of this kind in more than 100 years”.

The bones that gradually came to light in Andreas Pernerstorfer’s wine cellar are believed to be between 30,000 and 40,000 years old. The “Niederösterreichische Nachrichten” (NÖN) first reported on the find. The ÖAW spoke of an “archaeological sensation” in a broadcast on Wednesday afternoon.

“Such a dense bone layer is rare”

Archaeologists Thomas Einwögerer and Hannah Parow-Souchon have now uncovered several layers of remains of the gigantic Ice Age animals. These are likely to be the bones of at least three animals. “Such a dense layer of mammoth bones is rare. This is the first time that we have been able to examine something like this in Austria using modern means,” said Parow-Souchon, head of the excavation funded by the Federal Monuments Office and the state of Lower Austria. Remains of individual mammoths have been found a few times in recent years, for example during road construction work, but the ensemble in Gobelsburg stands out from these.

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