Mammoth tooth

Jääaja Keskus saatis sügisel raadiosüsiniku ekspertiisi oma ühe eksponaadi- mammuti hamba.

Siin videos näed kuidas seda analüüsi tehti.

Press release:

The Ice Age Center in Tartu County probably owns the oldest mammoth tooth in Estonia, the age of which has been determined. Last year, the center sent a piece of a mammoth tooth in its collection to a laboratory in Vilnius to determine its age.

The analysis revealed that the mammoth tooth is 36,000 years old. What’s more, to everyone’s surprise, when examining the tooth, it was found that complete DNA was found in it!

This discovery has once again put the find in the orbit of interest for geneticists, because so far scientists’ efforts to bring mammoths back to life have failed.

Now scientists are resuming experiments to recreate the mammoth species, and specialists from Estonia, the USA and Japan have been involved.

Jääaja Keskus, as the owner of the mammoth tooth, participates in the process as its record holder, in order to create a new permanent exhibition from the material.

“We hope that this has made the revival of mammoths possible,” said Kadri Valner, CEO of the Ice Age Center.

There is also a definite plan to expand the center and create the world’s first mammoth garden in Tartumaa. As the interest among investors is very high, the center is currently engaged in selecting the most promising supporters.

“This is a big step forward for both science and history buffs, and we will do our best to share exciting new discoveries about mammoths and our environment with the world,” Valner elaborated.