Het fossiele damhert (Dama dama) van Luttenberg, Overijssel

A pit near Luttenberg (Overijssel, the Netherlands) has yielded a small but interesting assemblage of mammal fossils. Most remarkable is an almost complete antler of a fallow deer Dama dama. Furthermore remains of the straight-tusked elephant Elephas (P.) antiquus, the woolly mammoth Mammuthus primigenius, a horse Equus sp., the woolly rhino Coelodonta antiquitatis, the giant deer Cervus (M.) giganteus, the red deer Cervus elaphus, the elk Alces sp., the reindeer Rangifer tarandus, the roe Capreolus capreolus and the bison Bison priscus have been collected. The uniform and rather heavy state of mineralisation of the fossil remains and the geological context indicate that the fossils date from the Late Pleistocene. Species which prefer to live under temperate conditions and in a wooded environment like the straight-tusked, the fallow deer, the elk and the roe deer have very likely an Eemian age. The remains of the woolly mammoth, the woolly rhino and the reindeer probably date from the Saalian.