The emblematic animal of prehistory
What was the mammoth used for?
Eat
It is wrong to think that prehistoric men hunted mammoths with their spears. However, when mammoths were already deceased, the meat was consumed.
Making tools
Mammoth bones were used to make tools, objects and musical instruments. The Lady of Brassempouy is also made of mammoth bone.
Take shelter
The slightly curved mammoth bones made it possible to build strong huts. The tanned leather of animals like bison covered these huts to become waterproof.
What is a mammoth?
The word “mammoth” comes from the Russian мамонт which means “ earth horn ". Indeed, the mammoth had large curved tusks.
This animal is a mammal cousin of the elephant of incredible dimensions. He sometimes weighed more than 12 tons and measured almost 5 meters at the withers.
The prehistoric mammoth living on the Vézère valley had a specificity: it was covered with long hair. Otherwise called woolly mammoth, the animal lived in herds in the steppes of Périgord. Its coat helped protect itself from the cold because the mammoth lived during the last ice age, the end of the Pleistocene.
Do mammoths still exist?
Global warming unfortunately contributed to the extinction of mammoths. ?
Over the years, the mammoth species has evolved. Mammals migrated to colder regions and abandoned the European and African continents almost 10 years ago. Archaeologists have found mammoth bones in Siberia, in the Wrangel region, which are believed to be only 4 years old.
Where can I see it?
If you have read the following paragraph carefully, you will understand that the mammoths present in Vézère valley are therefore reconstructions! However, they always impress young and old when you pass by them.
- At the entrance to Caves of Roc de Cazelle
- At the entrance of Prehistobranch
- On the Mammouth et Cie du Thot app
- On the walls of the Rouffignac cave
- In the hall of National Museum of Prehistory
