Abstract
This study examines remains of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) found inside the Austrian Alps, an area occupied by an extensive ice-stream network during the Last Glacial Maximum. The data demonstrate that these cold steppe-adapted animals locally migrated several tens of kilometers into alpine valleys. Radiocarbon analyses constrain the age of these fossils to the first half of Marine Isotope Stage 3, documenting ice-free conditions in major valleys at that time. We also provide a list of all traceable Austrian sites of Mammuthus primigenius, totaling about 230 localities, compiled through 15 museums and collections in Austria. The vast majority of these findings are from the corridors of the Danube and Mur rivers and their tributaries and the adjacent loess-covered foreland of the Alps, areas that were never ice-covered during Pleistocene glaciations.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 11-19 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Quaternary Science Reviews |
Volume | 190 |
Early online date | 05 May 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 15 Jun 2018 |
Keywords
- Austrian Alps
- Mammoth
- Palaeoclimate
- Radiocarbon dating
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Global and Planetary Change
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Archaeology
- Archaeology
- Geology