Israeli archaeologists on Wednesday unveiled a 2.6-metre-long prehistoric elephant tusk discovered in central Israel.
The oldest tusk found whole at a prehistoric site in the Middle East was discovered in the area of the Kibbutz of Revadim near Ashkelon, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority (AIA), and weighs about 150 kg.
“Huge elephants roamed and grazed at this prehistoric site on Israel’s coastal plain half a million years ago, as evidenced by this exceptionally well-preserved ancient tusk,” the AIA said in a statement.
It comes from a so-called straight-tusked elephant, a species “that disappeared from this region about 400,000 years ago,” Avi Levy, AIA’s excavation director, told AFP.
Judging by the size of this tusk, the elephant must have been 4.5 to 5 meters tall.
Elephant bones had previously been found in this area of Israel, but not a single such tusk, which Mr Levy described as a “fantastic” find.
“The discovery of the tusk, detached from the skull and the rest of the body (of the elephant), begs the question: is the tusk the remains of a hunted elephant, or was it collected by local people in prehistoric times? Did the defense have a social or spiritual meaning?” ask Ofer Marder, professor of archeology at Ben Gurion University in Beersheva (south), and Ianir Milevski, director of the Department of Prehistory at AIA.
Flint tools used by prehistoric people to skin and carve animals have been found near the tusk.
Archaeologists point out that the tusk is very fragile and can break. When extracted from the ground, it is taken to an AIA laboratory for study and preservation.