A gigantic mammoth tusk unearthed from a Yorkshire coal mine has been carefully conserved during one of the city’s most unusual clean-up jobs.
The prehistoric appendage was discovered in the former open cast site near Temple Newsam in the late 1960s, more than 38,000 years after the extinct, ice age behemoth it once belonged to died.
Today, the remarkable find is among countless objects spanning millions of years of history being cared for during an annual deep clean carried out by experts at the Leeds Discovery Centre.
Museum records reveal that the massive tusk, which is in two heavy pieces, was found beneath the gravelled floodplain of the River Aire at the former Oxbow open cast mine.
Dating from the pre-maximal Weichselian glaciation, when a huge sheet of ice covered large parts of northern Europe, including the UK, the tusk represents astonishing physical evidence that mammoths once roamed the frozen Yorkshire tundra.
Clare Brown, Leeds Museums and Galleries’ curator of natural sciences, said: “It’s hard to imagine today that mammoths once lived here in Yorkshire, so we’re very fortunate to have such a remarkable, tangible piece of evidence that thousands of years ago, these astonishing animals once walked in the places we know today.
“Objects like our tusk can also tell us a great deal about prehistoric Britain and the impact extreme changes in climates and environments can have on plant and animal life.
“Conserving objects like this at the Leeds Discovery Centre really brings home the huge scale and depth of our collection and the importance of preserving and protecting such an important record of so many different facets of history.”
Different species of mammoth lived in Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America for more than six million years before they eventually became extinct around 4,000 years ago.
Sharing a common ancestor with modern elephants, they were distinguished by their enormous size, huge, spiral, twisted tusks and adaptations to the colder climate, which sometimes included a thick layer of woolly fur.
The largest known species could weigh almost 13 tonnes, but despite their huge bulk, they were hunted by early humans and are depicted in numerous prehistoric paintings.
Home to more than a million objects, The Leeds Discovery Centre is used to store parts of the Leeds collection not currently on display.
The centre is free to visit by appointment and hosts a programme of behind-the-scenes tours and talks.
Councillor Salma Arif, Leeds City Council’s executive member for adult social care, active lifestyles and culture, said: “Leeds has an incredible history, some of which can literally be found beneath our feet, and it’s astonishing that we have so many objects to remind us of what was here before the city we know today.
“The work of our museums team enables those objects to be preserved for future generations and for the unique story of our city to be told for many years to come.”
Visits to the Leeds Discovery must be booked in advance. For more details, please visit: https://museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk/leeds-discovery-centre
