A Late Pleistocene woolly mammoth from Lower Silesia, SW Poland

Abstract

The well-preserved remains (74 bones) of a woolly mammoth Mammuthus primigenius were discovered in Vistulian (Weichselian) sediments in the vicinity of Zas-tru¿e near¯arów, Lower Silesia, Poland. The mammoth female,~18-50 years old, died from unknown reason on a muddy slope of a periglacial valley and was quickly buried in sediments of~24 ka age. The results of the stable oxygen isotope analyses of bone phosphates indicate that more than one individual might have been buried at this site. The calculated stable oxygen isotope composition of water drunk by the Zastru¿e mammoth/s during its/their lifetime was-10.8±0.4‰, reflecting an approximate annual mean air temperature around 6.6±0.8°C