On the New Siberian Islands, during a paleontological expedition, the remains of a mammoth were found, in whose shoulder blade fragments of a bone tool were found. How the expedition went, said the researcher Innokenty Pavlov, after whom the found mammoth was named.
As part of the Day of Russian Science, a popular science lecture on the paleontological expedition to the Novosibirsk Islands was held. The leader of this expedition spoke about how this work was carried out.
Innokenty Pavlov - Researcher of the Department for the Study of Mammoth Fauna of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), led an expedition in the Novosibirsk archipelago, on Kotelny Island, where the remains of a woolly mammoth were found.
“In 2018, we received information that there are remains of a mammoth in the intertidal zone of the northern part of Kotelny Island. Having learned about this, we gathered a team and went there and examined the place of discovery. During the study, it was found that this is an adult mammoth of an unusual small size - a dwarf mammoth. A year later, in 2019, we went there again to extract the mammoth from the permafrost, "- said Innokenty Pavlov.
Due to weather conditions and due to the fact that the remains of the mammoth were located on the intertidal zone of the island, archaeologists were unable to complete the excavation of the so-called "Golden Mammoth", which had a unique, golden color of wool.
Then Innokenty Pavlov began to look for the remains of other mammoths. He learned that a mammoth skull was found not far from their excavation site, having learned about this, he decided to immediately move to the place of discovery.
“Since I was the leader of the expedition, I didn’t want our research to end so quickly. Therefore, I asked local archaeologists if there were any remains of a mammoth nearby, at least its skull. And a few days later I was informed that there are fragments of a mammoth skull not far from the tundra, "he said.
Upon reaching their destination, they began excavating the area and discovered the rest of the mammoth. So, 40 percent of the skeleton of a mammoth was found. It is also noticed that the mammoth fought with the ancient people. His bones had numerous cuts and scrapes. In addition, the remains of a tool used by ancient people were discovered. This find was dubbed "Pavlov's Mammoth" in honor of the leader of the expedition.
“I have suggestions that near the place where the remains of the mammoth were found, there might have been an ancient man's site. We want to survey this area once again to find the remains of ancient people and, possibly, other animals that lived there,”said Innokentiy Pavlov.
In April this year, archaeologists are going to visit the Novosibirsk Islands once again to unearth the remains of the "Golden Mammoth" and explore the area where the "Pavlova's Mammoth" was found and possibly ancient people lived.