Ancient humans were feasting on giant elephants, reveals butchery evidence

In a stunning discovery, researchers have found fossils of ancient elephant species which hint that they may have been food sources to early humans in India.

Scientists first discovered the elephant fossils in Pampore town of Kashmir valley in the year 2000. They later found that the fossils dated back to between 300,00 and 400,000 years ago.

However, they have recently found out which animal's fossils it was and what was the involvement of humans.

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According to a new analysis, early humans are likely to have hit the bones of elephants to extract the marrow for food, which is an energy-dense fatty tissue.

The flakes from the bones of the elephant have revealed that this is the earliest evidence of animal butchery in India.

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“We interpret this specimen as an impact flake resulting from repeated hammering of an elephant bone with a stone implement,” said the authors in the paper.

“Initially, the bone was struck several times in an attempt to initiate the fracture. However, these initial attempts failed, requiring a subsequent, more forceful blow, possibly with a heavier hammerstone, to fully fracture the bone. The overall morphology of this flake closely resembles an impact flake produced in [previous] marrow processing experiments," they added.

How did hominins live in the Indian subcontinent?

The discovery is very unusual as there is extremely little evidence of hominins in the Indian subcontinent and just one fossil hominin has ever been found.

The discovery of 87 stone tools along with bones has helped researchers understand how early human ancestors were living.

"So, the question is, who are these hominins? What are they doing on the landscape and are they going after big game or not?" said Advait Jukar, study author and curator of vertebrate palaeontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, in astatement.

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"Now we know for sure, at least in the Kashmir Valley, these hominins are eating elephants," he added.

On the basis of the findings, the team has concluded that the tools and the site are almost 300,000 to 400,000 years old.

“It might just be that people haven’t looked closely enough or are sampling in the wrong place. But up until now, there hasn’t been any direct evidence of humansfeedingon large animals in India," said Jukar.

As per the researchers, hominins are likely to have either killed the elephant or may have found it after they had died.

(With inputs from agencies)