In a remarkable turn of events during a renovation project in his Austrian wine cellar, a man stumbled upon something far older than any bottle of wine: the remains of prehistoric mammoths. The Austrian Archaeological Institute, part of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), has declared this discovery an “archaeological sensation.”
Andreas Pernerstorfer, the winemaker, uncovered several massive bones while working in his cellar in Gobelsburg, a village within the Krems district west of Vienna. He promptly reported his find to the authorities, who confirmed that the bones belonged to at least three mammoths from the Stone Age.
Speaking to the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), Mr. Pernerstorfer recounted his initial disbelief, mistaking the first piece he found for wood left by his grandfather. “But then, as I uncovered more, I recalled my grandfather mentioning finding teeth years ago. That’s when it hit me – these could be mammoth remains,” he explained.
Since mid-May, a team from the Austrian Archaeological Institute has meticulously excavated the site. Archaeologists Thomas Einwögerer and Hannah Parow-Souchon, based on the stone tools and charcoal discovered alongside the bones, estimate that these remains are between 30,000 and 40,000 years old.
According to the Institute, This site in Krems is the most significant find of its kind in 150 years. The Institute announced in a press release that they completely excavated the cellars when they first discovered them. Researchers mostly explored other similar sites in Austria and the surrounding regions over a century ago, making them nearly inaccessible to modern research.”
The theory is that the mammoths might have been led to this spot and trapped by human hunters. Once the excavation is complete, the bones will be transferred to the Vienna Museum of Natural History for further study.