Mammoths were not the only enormous beasts ancient humans hunted. Elephant ancestors were also on the menu. While analyzing over 300 skeletal remains excavated in northwestern Rome, a team of paleontologists found that the bones belong to a gigantic ancestor of today’s elephant. Based on the state of the remains and additional stone tools discovered nearby, early hunters likely knew it was in their best interest to utilize as much of their prey as possible—no matter how large.
Today’s elephants are sizable animals, but their Pleistocene relatives made them look modest by comparison. The largest known examples fall into the Palaeoloxodon genus, which contains some of the biggest land mammals to ever walk the planet. These include Palaeoloxodon antiquus, also known as the straight-tusked elephant, which grew as tall as 13 feet at the shoulder and weighed as much as 29,000 pounds. P. antiquus roamed Europe and Western Asia as recently as 28,000 years ago, meaning they were no strangers to early humans. But despite their enormous stature, P. antiquus didn’t necessarily spook groups of hominin hunters.
At a fossil site in Rome, Italy paleontologists uncovered a set of straight-tusked elephant remains dating back 404,000 years—a comparatively warm period during the Middle Pleistocene. Near the bones, researchers also identified over 500 small stone tools. Most of these implements measured less than 1.2 inches long, possibly due to the region’s lack of larger stones.
However, the miniature accessories didn’t seem to stop a group of humans from felling and butchering the elephant. Multiple bones had fractures that were inflicted shortly after death, each matching to blunt force impact marks. However, the lack of cutting and scrapping evidence on the bones implies that the hunters used their stone tools to cut into the animal’s soft tissues.
That said, the group recognized a good resource when they saw one. According to the team’s study published today in the journal PLOS One, several bones were later altered to function as larger tools. The team added that this isn’t the only site like this in the region. Multiple other locations in central Italy have butchered elephant remains, small stone tools, and larger modified bones.
“Our study shows how, 400,000 years ago in the area of Rome, human groups were able to exploit an extraordinary resource like the elephant—not only for food, but also by transforming its bones into tools,” the authors explained in an accompanying statement.
They added that by reconstructing these scenes, experts can better describe and understand ancient ecosystems and the roles our distant ancestors played in them.
