An elephant foot bone, found by archaeologists during excavations in southern Spain, could be evidence that a troop of war elephants roamed ancient Europe, the BBC reports today.
According to academics, it would be the first tangible evidence of the legendary fighting elephant squad of the Carthaginian general Hannibal.
Drawings of Hannibal's war against the Romans have long suggested that these animals were used in combat, but no hard evidence has supported these theories.
It now appears that the skeletal remains of these animals were found at an Iron Age site, during excavations near Cordoba.
"Apart from ivory, the discovery of elephant remains in European archaeological contexts is extremely rare," the team of scientists said in a paper published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
Hannibal, often considered one of the most successful military commanders in history, led his army from the powerful imperial city of Carthage, in what is now Tunisia, into Europe.
He fought three wars, known as the Punic Wars, between 264–146 BC, fighting for control of the Mediterranean.
He is thought to have led soldiers and animals from Carthage through Spain and France to invade Italy, crossing the Alps with 37 elephants in 218 BC.
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 ivory beneath a collapsed wall at the site of Colina de los Quemados.
They used radiocarbon dating techniques to estimate the age of the 10-centimeter-sized cuboid bone.
The result led them to believe that it dates from the period of the Second Punic War, between the late 3rd and early 2nd centuries BC.
They also compared it with the bones of modern elephants and steppe mammoths to determine which animal it came from.
During the 2020 excavation, the team found artillery shells, money, and ceramics, which provided further clues that the site was the scene of a battle.
"As non-native species and the largest land animals alive today, these imported beasts must have been transported by ship," the academics said.
They say it is highly unlikely that they were transporting dead animals, and the bones are unattractive, suggesting they were not decorative or used in crafts.
However, scientists say it will be very challenging to determine which species of elephant the animal belonged to.
"Although [the bone] would not represent one of the mythical specimens that Hannibal took over the Alps, it could potentially be the first known relic - so sought after by European scholars in the modern era - of animals used in the Punic Wars of Rome for control of the Mediterranean," the scientists conclude in their paper.
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