Houses built of mammoth bones were found by a farmer enlarging his cellar.

13,000 BC · 1965 · apart: 14,965 years

In 1965 he dug up a mammoth jaw at Mezhyrich, Ukraine; archaeologists then uncovered four huts of 149 mammoth bones, about 15,000 years old.

◍ Show on the globe

The event

• The mammoth-bone houses of Mezhyrichc. 13,000 BC · Mezhyrich, Ukraine. In 1965 a farmer enlarging his cellar dug up a mammoth's jawbone. Archaeologists then uncovered four huts about 15,000 years old built from 149 mammoth bones, along with a mammoth skull painted with red ochre that is thought to have been a 'drum'.

Prehistory · 20th century

More amazing facts

• 16,000 BC · 1879 Altamira's paintings were found thanks to an eight-year-old girl — and her father was accused of forgery.
• 16,000 BC A puppy 18,000 years old turned up in the Yakutian permafrost with its fur and whiskers.
• 14,000 BC · 2560 BC · 300 BC Japan's Jōmon period lasted some 14,000 years.
• 12,500 BC · 9000 BC Bread was being baked thousands of years before farming began.
• 12,000 BC Some 14,000 years ago, people were already nursing sick dogs.
• 11,000 BC · 9000 BC Beer may be older than farming.

All amazing facts (1058) →