Remains of 28,000-year-old wooly mammoth on display in Turkey

By Mesut Karaduman

TEKIRDAG, Turkey (AA) – The remains of a wooly mammoth thought to date back some 28,000 years have been put on display by a university in northwestern Turkey.

The remains were unearthed in 2020 during excavations in sand and gravel quarries in the Tekirdag province, said the exhibit organizers.

At the exhibit, organized by Tekirdag Namik Kemal University, visitors can see a variety of items such as fossils, stones, rocks, metals, and marble samples.

Emre Ozsahin, head of the university’s geography department, said wooly mammoths – known as the ancestors of modern-day elephants – once lived in this region and also migrated nearby.

According to Ozsahin, testing of the bones shows that the mammoth lived somewhere around 23,000 to 28,000 years ago, and the available data suggests local mammoths either moved to Europe or southern regions.

He added that the region was located on the migration route of animals as well as human beings.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas​​​​​​​