South of Moscow, archaeologists have uncovered a giant ring constructed 25,000 years ago from the bones of more than 60 mammoths. According to University of Exeter researcher Alexander Pryor and colleagues, the 12.5 meter ring isn't the remnants of a shelter as it was probably too large to put a roof on at the time. From Science:
Although it's not clear why nomadic hunter-gatherers would have built such a permanent, labor-intensive structure, most scientists assumed they assembled it from mammoth bones because the region had precious few trees during the ice age. So it came as a bit of a surprise when workers at the site sifted out hundreds of bits of (charred pine, evidence that there were trees in the area)…
More research, the authors note, is needed to determine whether it served a ritualistic purpose, a practical purpose such as food storage, or both.
More: "Mysterious bone circles made from the remains of mammoths reveal clues about Ice Age" (University of Exeter)
