In the town of Denderleeuw in East Flanders Province workmen have discovered two tusks and several molars from a mammoth while digging in the town centre. The teeth are believed to belong to one and the same woolly mammoth, which makes the find exceptional. “Based on similar discoveries, we estimate the finds to be between 40,000 and 30,000 years old, although further research will need to confirm this,” says Bart Cherretté of the SOLVA archaeology service.
The mammoth teeth were found close together at a depth of no less than 7 metres. Workers were digging a foundation pit for the construction of an underground car park. “When the contractor found the teeth, archaeologists were carrying out excavations directly opposite the entrance to the Administrative Centre in Denderleeuw,” Bart Cherretté, SOLVA’s immovable heritage coordinator, explains.
“It is currently difficult to date the finds precisely; further scientific research is required,” Cherretté continues. “However, we can be almost certain that the two tusks and the molars come from a woolly mammoth. Based on similar finds, we estimate the remains to be between 40,000 and 30,000 years old.”
“The chance of finding such ancient remains buried so deep underground is very small,” says local Mayor Jo Fonck. “We have been told that most mammoth finds were discovered during river straightening works or the excavation of harbour docks.”
A unique discovery
That is perhaps what makes the discovery in Denderleeuw so unique. Around 30,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age, the River Dender and the River Scheldt formed a very wide and deep valley, in which the rivers did not yet have a fixed course.
“This was because the ground was very often frozen (permafrost), so the rivers carved their way pretty much anywhere, creating a 'braided river system'. Various river branches flowed across the width of the valley rather than into a single deep riverbed, as we are mainly familiar with today."
"Periods of heavy rainfall or large amounts of meltwater would carry away carcasses that had been left behind all over the tundra. In exceptional cases, such as perhaps in Denderleeuw, a mammoth’s skeleton was not moved by rivers but remained (partly) in situ and was covered with sand and loam during the Ice Age,” Bart Cherretté says, explaining this potentially unique find.
Conservation and exhibition?
SOLVA will now examine the teeth and ensure their conservation. “This involves drying and treating them very slowly, so that they can withstand exposure to the air and bacteria”.
“We will now examine whether we can also put the finds on permanent display after conservation,” Marleen Van der Hoeven, the local alderwoman with special responsibility for Heritage says.