The Csajág mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius): Late Pleniglacial finds from Hungary and their chronological significance

Abstract

The Csajág mammoths were discovered during road construction work in June 2006. The skeletal remains are well preserved in an Upper Pleistocene loess deposit. This revealed the skeletons were an adult female woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) of estimated age 24–25 years, largely complete except for the skull; and the partial skeleton of a juvenile of age 6–7 years at death. A tooth sample has been radiocarbon dated (AMS) and is of Late Pleniglacial (MIS 2) age (16.9–15.9 ka cal BP). This new radiocarbon evidence fits into the well-known colonization pattern of M. primigenius in East Central Europe and confirms a continuous distribution at the end of the Late Pleistocene.