A cold case from the last glacial maximum: A partial mammoth skeleton from southern Germany (Danube Valley, Germany) – Part 2: Fossil record, sedimentology and palaeoenvironment

Stojakowits P, Mayr C, Steinmann C, Reiss L, Lutz P, Rössner GE, Kevrekidis C, Rosendahl W, Pasda K, Maier A, Uthmeier T, Zolitschka B (2026)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2026

Journal

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports Elsevier

Book Volume: 73

Article Number: 105793

DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105793

Abstract

One tusk and remains of at least 72 skeletal elements of woolly mammoth were unearthed from deposits of a palaeo-channel fill including adjacent overbank deposits. The taphonomy and the absence of duplicate bones suggests that the recovered bones originated from a single individual. The vast majority of the long bones were missing. The bones were embedded with almost no orientation. The mammoth is of special archaeological interest because it shows traces of human activities (Pasda et al., this volume). Four radiocarbon dates gained from the same mammoth rib provide an age range for the mammoth of Taimering between 26.9 and 25.3 ka cal BP. To reconstruct the environmental context of the excavation area, the imbedding sediments were studied. Sedimentological and geochemical analyses support the stratigraphical interpretation that the bones were embedded in a former pond or slow-flowing stream, with the exception of the tusk and ilium, which were buried in topographically higher overbank deposits. Pollen analyses revealed tundra vegetation with small patches of dwarf shrubs in climatically more favorable locations. The stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes of a rib bone correspond to the pattern often observed in mammoth bones of the so-called mammoth steppe, which are particularly enriched in 15N.

Authors with CRIS profile

Christoph Mayr Institut für Geographie Lilian Reiss Institut für Geographie Thorsten Uthmeier Lehrstuhl für Ur- und Frühgeschichte (UFG)

Involved external institutions

Universität Augsburg DE Germany (DE) Universität zu Köln DE Germany (DE) Universität Bremen DE Germany (DE) Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege (BLfD) DE Germany (DE) Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) DE Germany (DE) Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum Archäometrie / Curt Engelhorn Centre Archaeometry DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Stojakowits, P., Mayr, C., Steinmann, C., Reiss, L., Lutz, P., Rössner, G.E.,... Zolitschka, B. (2026). A cold case from the last glacial maximum: A partial mammoth skeleton from southern Germany (Danube Valley, Germany) – Part 2: Fossil record, sedimentology and palaeoenvironment. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105793

MLA:

Stojakowits, Philipp, et al. "A cold case from the last glacial maximum: A partial mammoth skeleton from southern Germany (Danube Valley, Germany) – Part 2: Fossil record, sedimentology and palaeoenvironment." Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 73 (2026).

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