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A prehistorical campfire and a number of archaeological treasure — including a large tusk of a gigantic , and peter forge out of stone and ivory — remained hidden for thousands of years in the Alaskan wilderness until researchers discovered them recently .
Researchers found the 55 - in - recollective ( 140 centimeter ) mammoth ivory , the gravid ever witness at a prehistoric land site in the country , during a 2016 mining at the Holzman site , located about 70 miles ( 110 klick ) southeastward of Fairbanks , Alaska . A radiocarbon dating analysis revealed that the ivory was about 14,000 twelvemonth old , the researchers told Live Science in an electronic mail .
A researcher excavating the 14,000-year-old tusk.
" The radiocarbon dates on this mammoth position it as one of the last surviving mammoth on the mainland , " Kathryn Krasinski , a co - principal investigator of the dig and an adjunct module member in the anthropology section at Adelphi University in Garden City , New York , told Live Science in the email . [ trope Gallery : Stunning Mammoth Unearthed ]
The research squad found the tusk in stain bank deposit about 5 animal foot ( 1.5 meters ) underground . Though other sites have ivory fragments , this find distinguish only the second time that researchers have uncovered an intact gigantic tusk from an archaeological situation in Alaska , the researcher said .
The determination suggest that the former documented multitude in Alaska likely blend out of their elbow room to acquire mammoth off-white , and that they were creating tools with the material , the researchers said .
The newly discovered, 55-inch-long (140 centimeter) mammoth tusk.
The team plan to investigate whether prehistoric people obtained the ivory through hunting or whether it wasscavenged by humanswho pass off to live at the situation a few hundred year later , tell Krasinski and her workfellow Brian Wygal , a co - principal investigator of the archeological site and an associate professor of anthropology at Adelphi University . The other two co - master investigators are Charles Holmes , an affiliate inquiry professor the University of Alaska Fairbanks , and Barbara Crass , a staff researcher in the Department of Religious Studies and Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh .
" This question is substantial because it could provide further evidence that the first Americans were involve in the quenching of the woolly mammoth , " Krasinski and Wygal severalize Live Science in an email .
Mammoths went extinct at the end of the last ice age about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago , although a modest population of mammoths survived on Wrangel Island , off the Siberian seashore , until about 3,700 years ago , Live Science previously report . But the mammoth ’s extinction is still shrouded in mystery , and scientists continue to debate whether an abruptly warm up mood , human hunter or a combination of both drove the creature to quenching .
Researcher Aaron Costello (in the green jacket) holds the bone fragment of a large animal discovered during excavations
In a study published in 2016 in thejournal Science Advances , researchers indicate that aperfect storm of both factorsdoomed the ice age whale , but earlier works , such as a 2014 work release in the journal PLOS ONE , localise more of the inculpation on humans , Live Science antecedently account .
" Such head are essential to understanding the heavy shock of people on their environment , " Krasinski and Wygal wrote in the email . These questions may also facilitate researcher understand " the timing and circumstances surrounding the initial peopling of the Americas from Asia , " they said .
The finding has yet to be print in a compeer - review journal . The ivory is now at the Adelphi University archaeology lab , where it will undergo further analysis .
Original article onLive Science .
