Animals | August 27, 2021 4:22 AM | Hang Bona
Mammoth Bone Dwellings Discovered in Ukraine Could Be the Earliest Examples of Architecture
Huts made of mammoth bones discovered in Ukraine’s Dnieper River valley (as well as in Moravia, Czech Republic, and southern Poland) could represent the first structures created by prehistoric man, and hence the earliest examples of architecture.
Some of the most famous mammoth bone homes were discovered in Mezhyrich, a town in central Ukraine when a farmer dug up a mammoth’s lower jawbone while building his cellar in 1965.
Excavations discovered the presence of four archaic homes made up of 149 mammoth bones in total.
These shelters, which date from 23,000 BCE to 12,000 BCE, are regarded to be some of the earliest houses ever built by prehistoric men and are commonly assigned to Cro-Magnons.
They are made up of several hundred bones and tusks placed in a rough circle with a diameter of 6 to 10 meters (20 to 33 feet).
A fireplace is usually found in the middle of the previous residence, and stone tools and other rubbish are strewn about the interior and exterior.
Near the dwellings, large pits containing stone tools, bone fragments, and ash have been discovered.
These buildings must have taken a lot of time and effort to put together.
Large mammoth bones can weigh hundreds of pounds even when dried, It’s been speculated that the bones and tusks came during hunting episodes in which entire herds of adult mammoths and their young were murdered.
A more likely hypothesis is that they were collected from natural bone accumulations around the sites, possibly at the mouths of streams and gullies.
The major aim of the mammoth-bone homes, which were apparently covered with animal skins, was most likely to provide protection from harsh colds and strong winds.
Some archaeologists have claimed that the structures have religious or social significance because of their size and form.
They’ve been dubbed the oldest examples of “monumental architecture” as proof of growing social complexity and status difference throughout the Ice Age’s final phase.
(100 Great Archaeological Discoveries [1995] 54-55, edited by Paul G, Bahn), Thanks for your like and share.
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