Heavy Rain Reveals Mammoth Herd in Serbia

Heavy rainfall on Monday at an open pit mine east of Belgrade revealed the remains of what could be up to six mammoths, not far from a site where two other mammoth remains were uncovered in recent years.

According to Miomir Korac, director of the Archeological Project "Viminacium," which is named after the Roman provincial capital along the Danube River, the discovery came as a complete surprise.

The location covers an area of some 20,000 square meters on what could have been an island in the Pannonian Sea, which today represents the fertile plain covering most of Hungary and northern Serbia and Croatia, speculated Korac.

"I just do not know what to say, or what can develop from this. It is simply incredible," he said. "Now we begin to carefully research the whole area." Korac said Serbian teams will use infrared imaging to get a better idea of what lies below the surface and at what depths to expect additional mammoth bones

He said that the archaeological teams studying the ancient city of Viminacium and its Roman legion camp will be transferred to further investigation of the mammoths.

"This is a rare global 'treat' because no such place exists elsewhere in the world," said Korac, adding that international paleozoologists, paleontologists and archaeologists are likely to participate in the work to learn about life on earth millions of years ago.

Belgrade, June 14^th, 2012