Photo: National Institute of Anthropology and History / EFE
For: EFE
Sunday, September 22
PHOTOS: They find remains of a mammoth from more than 10,000 years ago in central Mexico
The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) of Mexico notified this Wednesday the discovery of the remains of a mammoth dating from “at least” 10, 000 years in the central state of Puebla.
The remains were located in the municipality of Los Reyes de Juárez, in eastern Puebla, when the person in charge of taking care of the municipal cemetery came across his backhoe, with what he thought was a root, but when pushing, fragments that appeared to be bone jumped.
The mayor of Los Reyes, Manuel Herrera, notified the INAH of the discovery of the Puebla, from where they attended the report and went to the place to make an inspection, in which they verified that it was “megafauna bones of the Pleis tocene ”
After the above, the INAH Puebla Center began the paleontological excavation. The biologist Iván Alarcón Durán, from INAH, reported that “ through archaeological salvage tasks , to the surprise of all who dug, in the hallway, between the rows of graves and the smell of chrysanthemums , it was possible to recover a defense (which is often confused with fangs) almost complete, with an initial measurement of 2. 90 meters, and the second defense that was broken by the machine was also found. ”
Likewise, the fragmented skull was recovered , the 70% percent of the pelvis and some rib fragments -the most complete of these preserves a 60% of its original size .
“To avoid bone deterioration, the skull was removed immersed in a box of hardened sediment and will be carefully cleaned in the laboratory for later analysis “Explained the INAH.
In addition, in the layers of earth where the bones of the mammoth were found, the specialist identified strata of travertine -a rock sedimentary of considerable hardness that is formed with calcium carbonates, associated with the presence of water sources, such as lakes or underground rivers -.
To deepen the above, the research professor at the Autonomous University of Puebla, Carlos Castañeda will collaborate with the INAH Puebla Center conducting pollen studies, which “will allow the reconstruction of the palaeoenvironment where the new municipal pantheon is now located,” explained the institution.
The bone pieces were transferred to the laboratories of the INAH Puebla Center, where they are treated for their conservation and study.
In the future airport of Mexico City, located in the municipality of Zumpango, in the State of Mexico, also in the center of the country, have been detected more than 500 discovery points where dozens of mammoth, camel, horse and bison skeletons have been found, which accounts for the most important paleontological discovery in America a Latina by concentration of individuals.
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