The latest steppe mammoths (Mammuthus trogontherii (Pohlig)) and associated fauna on the Late Middle Pleistocene steppe at Nosak, Kostolac Basin, Northeastern Serbia

Abstract

In 2012, bones and tusks of mammoths and remains of other large mammals scattered in a line 130 m long have been discovered in the loess deposits at the Nosak mound in the Kostolac Basin (Northeastern Serbia). Preliminary analyses indicate that remains come from Mammuthus trogontherii, Equus ferus mosbachensis and Cervidae indet. Steppe mammoth remains originate from at least four individuals, three adults, and one juvenile. They include the largest steppe mammoth tusks ever reported. The mammalian remains were mostly found disarticulated, except for few articulated skeleton elements. Individual bones and teeth were encased within thick carbonate concretions. From their composition, morphology, and manner of formation, these carbonate concretions resemble the characteristic "loess dolls" that form in loess. Bones were exposed to subaerial weathering for some time before burial. Some damage on the bones indicates biogenic agents of their fragmentation and dispersal. Animals were probably attracted to the spot by a water source in the vicinity, such as a spring or intermittent stream. The bones and teeth accumulated at a single level within the loess likely deposited in MIS 6, just above the upper of two paleosols formed during MIS 7. A sample from a mammoth molar plate has been ESR dated at 192 +/- 5 ka, correlating with the very early MIS 6, near the MIS 6/7 boundary. This makes the Nosak mammoth the most recent occurrence of steppe mammoths in Europe, and the sole find dated to MIS 6.