De mammoeten en de neushoorn van Orvelte (Drenthe)

Remains of both the woolly mammoth and the woolly rhinoceros were discovered during the sinking of a shaft for the pipeline network of the Nederlandse Gasunie. During the rescue excavation covering 80 square metres, a mandibula and more bones of a woolly mammoth were collected. The woolly mammoth remains ( Mammuthus primigenius) represent at least 3 and maybe even 4 individuals. Most of the specimens (skull fragments, upper molars, mandibula, vertebrae, costae, distal epiphysis of a radius, as well as carpal and metacarpal bones) belonged probably to a single individual: a male aged 45-47 years, with an estimated shoulder height of 2,80 metres. A recovered tip of a tusk, broken off before fossilization, is assigned to a female, as well as a M1 and a fragment of a M2; which latter two indicate an age of about 15 years. The fourth individual is very young and has a wither height of less than 90 cm. Apart from the mammoth remains, 5 incomplete ribs of a rhinoceros were also collected. These ribs are assigned to the woolly rhinoceros Coelodonta antiquitatis. Three unidentified rib fragments show traces of gnawing by large carnivores such as wolf, hyena or lion. The mammalian fossils were discovered in situ, in a layer rich in palaeobotanical remains and rich in fossil insects and fish remains. Investigation of these remains may give important additional information on the environmental circumstances under which the woolly mammoth and the woolly rhino lived in Northwestern Europe about 45.000 years ago.