8 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

The world’s northernmost Palaeolithic settlement has been discovered on Kotelny Island in the Arctic

During the Paleolithic period, hominins lived in tiny groups and subsisted by collecting plants, fishing, and killing or scavenging wild animals.

So how far did these small groups go when they lived in caves? Seems like quite a lot!

Experts confirmed that ancient hunters lived in Koterny near the coast of Yakutia, at 75°20’N 141°00’E north latitude, 990 kilometers (615 miles) north of the Arctic Circle.

Their butchering tools were discovered with the bones of extinct woolly mammoths. Scientists have reconstructed 70% of the bones of a Palaeolithic mammoth that these hardy humans dined on.

‘This is a unique event for the Arctic and world archeology,’ Alexander Kandyba told Siberiantimes, senior researcher at the Stone Age Archaeology Department of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, part of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The mammoth was butchered by people. A large number of processed bones and tusk fragments were found. There are linear cuts, traces of chopping blows on the vertebra. People used a wide range of tools for cutting.
The mammoth was butchered by people. A large number of processed bones and tusk fragments were found. There are linear cuts, traces of chopping blows on the vertebra. People used a wide range of tools for cutting. Photo: Innokenty Pavlov/The Siberian Times

Alexander Kandyba emphasized: ‘We are talking about the northernmost human site in the Palaeolithic era.’

“The mammoth was butchered by people. A large number of processed bones and tusk fragments were found. There are linear cuts, traces of chopping blows on the vertebra. People used a wide range of tools for cutting. There is not a single bone that would be without traces of human impact.’

Scientists can learn not only how man conquered such northern latitudes, but also how he existed. The latest discoveries tend to refute the notion that ancient people were hesitant to hunt the massive hair monsters.

the northernmost human site in the Palaeolithic era  Kotelny island
The northernmost human site in the Palaeolithic era is Kotelny island.

Alexander Kandyba ‘In particular, we now know how they butchered a mammoth,’ said.

Dr. Albert Protopopov, head of the department of mammoth fauna of the Academy of Sciences of Yakutia, confirmed 70% of a newly found mammoth had been collected.

People used a wide range of tools for cutting. There is not a single bone that would be without traces of human impact’. Photo: Innokenty Pavlov/The Siberian Times
People used a wide range of tools for cutting. There is not a single bone that would be without traces of human impact’. Photo: Innokenty Pavlov/The Siberian Times

A large number of tusk fragments were found, indicating that animal remains were processed. The Taba-Yuryakh site is the northernmost known place for human existence in the Paleolithic Age. Kotelny is the largest island in the Novosibirsk archipelago, washed by the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea. The remains of woolly mammoths have been found here before.

However, when these ancient humans inhabited this outpost, it was connected to the mainland, and the temperature, albeit northern, was warmer than it is today.

The discoveries were made this summer during a joint expedition led by the Yakutia Academy of Sciences and the Novosibirsk Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography.

The woolly mammoths are roughly the same size as modern African elephants. The male’s shoulder height is between 2.7 to 3.4 m (8.9 to 11.2 feet) and weighs 6 metric tons (6.6 short tons). The female has a shoulder height of 2.6-2.9 m (8.5-9.5 feet) and a weight of 4 metric tons (4.4 short tons). Mammoths adapted well to the cold environment during the last ice age. It was covered in fur, with an outer covering of long guard hairs and a shorter undercoat. The ears and tail are short to minimize frostbite and heat loss. It had long, curved tusks and four molars, which were replaced six times during the lifetime of an individual.

Woolly mammoth information is from Wikipedia.

Related Articles

The researchers may have cracked the mystery of da Vinci’s DNA

7 July 2021

7 July 2021

A recent study of Leonardo da Vinci’s family tree indicates that the renowned Renaissance artist, inventor, and anatomist had 14...

490-Million-Year-Old Trilobites Could Solve Ancient Geography Puzzle

22 November 2023

22 November 2023

The humble trilobites may be extinct, but even as fossils, they can teach us much about our planet’s history. Indeed,...

Artificial Intelligence Project That Will Revolutionize Archaeology

5 April 2021

5 April 2021

Polish Scientists to opening a new era in archeology They plan to use artificial intelligence to detect prehistoric cemeteries, castles,...

Earliest glass workshop north of the Alps unearthed in Němčice

25 July 2023

25 July 2023

Archaeologists excavated the famous Iron Age site Němčice and uncovered the earliest glass workshop north of the Alps. Numerous beautiful...

Montenegro’s Unique Church With Two Altars is Disappearing

11 December 2023

11 December 2023

In the Spich plain, where the modern town of Sutomore in Bar, Montenegro is located, there were churches that served...

Archaeologists unearthed fresh evidence that bedbugs came to Britain with the Romans

3 February 2024

3 February 2024

Archaeologists working the Roman garrison site of Vindolanda in Northumberland, south of Hadrian’s Wall, have discovered new proof that the...

Evidence of a Roman shrine dating back was discovered during dig at Leicester Cathedral

7 March 2023

7 March 2023

Excavations by the University of Leicester archaeologists for have uncovered evidence that the site of Leicester Cathedral has been used...

Researchers Make Distilled Wine in a Replica of a 2,000-year-old Bronze Vessel Found in the Emperor’s Tomb

1 January 2025

1 January 2025

Archaeologists in China have produced distilled wine in a replica of a 2,000-year-old bronze vessel recovered from an emperor’s tomb,...

Unique Lion-Headed Handles Unveiled from a Roman-Period Cist Tomb Near Khirbat Ibreika

30 April 2025

30 April 2025

Beneath the ancient dust of Khirbat Ibreika in southern Israel, archaeologists have unearthed an unexpected enigma: four bronze discs, each...

Exploring the life story of a high-status woman from isotope data in Hungary’s largest Bronze Age cemetery

29 July 2021

29 July 2021

Researchers examined 29 tombs from Szigetszentmiklós-Ürgehegy, one of Hungary’s largest Middle Bronze Age cemeteries, and one of them, a high-status...

Rare waka unearthed from New Zealand River, after being hidden for 153 years

16 June 2023

16 June 2023

A waka -the traditional canoe of the Maori people- believed to be over 150 years old has been salvaged from...

The mythical hero of Troy and Rome Aeneas’s peerless mosaic discovered in Türkiye

11 May 2023

11 May 2023

A large mosaic depicting the legendary Trojan hero Aeneas, the protagonist of Virgil’s epic poem “The Aeneid” and the ancestor...

Africa May not be Where the First Pre-Human First Appeared

22 March 2021

22 March 2021

According to one opinion: About 2 million years ago, our first ancestors moved north from their hometown and left Africa....

New rune discovery in Oslo

16 February 2022

16 February 2022

For the third time in a month and a half, archaeologists have found a new rune in Oslo. The artifact...

A new study reveals, Anglo-Saxon Kings were generally vegetarian, but peasants treated them to huge meat feasts

22 April 2022

22 April 2022

Very few people in England ate large amounts of meat before the Vikings settled, and there is no evidence that...