Georgina Ranard, BBC Science
An elephant foot bone found by archaeologists digging in southern Spain could be evidence that a herd of war elephants roamed ancient Europe.
This would be, scientists say, the first concrete evidence of the legendary herd of war elephants of the Carthaginian general, the legendary military leader Hannibal.
Hannibal before the gates (Hannibal is at the door), was a sentence that struck fear into every Roman's bones.
Drawings of Hannibal's war against the Romans have long suggested that these animals were used in combat, but there has been no solid evidence to support these theories.
It now appears that the skeletal remains of the creature were found in an Iron Age excavation near Cordoba.
"In addition to ivory, the discovery of elephant remains in European archaeological sites is extremely rare," the team of scientists says in a paper published in the journal Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
Often considered one of the most successful commanders of his time, Hannibal led an army from the powerful imperial city of Carthage, in present-day Tunisia, into Europe, fighting for supremacy over the Mediterranean.
He is believed to have led soldiers and animals from Carthage through Spain and France to invade Italy, crossing the Alps with 37 elephants in 218 BC during the second of the so-called Punic Wars.
It is assumed that the remains found in Spain come from an animal that died before reaching the Alps.
Archaeologists, led by Professor Rafael M. Martinez Sanchez, found the elephant bone under a collapsed wall at a site called Colina de los Quemados.
They used carbon dating techniques to estimate the age of the 10-centimeter cube of bone.
The result led them to believe that it dates back to the Second Punic War.
In addition, they compared the bones of modern elephants and steppe mammoths to determine which animal it came from.
During the 2020 excavation, the team found artillery, coins, and ceramics, providing further clues that the site was the site of a battle.
"As non-native species and the largest living land animals, a ship would be required to transport these animals," the scientists said.
They say it is highly unlikely that dead animals were transported, and the bones are not reputable, suggesting they were not decorative or used in crafts.
But scientists say it will be very difficult to determine what species of elephant this creature belonged to.
"While [the bone] would not represent one of the mythical specimens driven over the Alps by Hannibal, it could potentially embody the first known remains of animals used in the Punic Roman Wars for control of the Mediterranean, something modern European scholars have long sought," the paper concludes.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube i Viber. If you have a topic suggestion for us, please contact bbcnasrpskom@bbc.co.uk
- Spectacular discovery: Thousands of dinosaur footprints on a mountain in Italy
- Historical undertaking: What did the people whose skulls were built into the Ćele-kula look like?
- Million-year-old skull changes current knowledge about human evolution
- What the discovery of a 12.000-year-old sculpture tells us about the ego of our ancestors
- Scientists want to revive mammoths to fight climate change
- 'The most ingenious trick since the Trojan Horse': The Soviet artwork that spied on America
- The first kiss happened 21 million years ago, scientists say
- The history of garlic: From slave food and ancient medicine to modern cuisine
Bonus video:
