German divers exploring the depths of Lake Salzgitter in July made an unusual discovery when they came across a completely preserved tusk from a woolly mammoth.
Harald Wiegleb, from Lebenstedt, and Jurgen Woelke, from Salzgitter-Bad, gifted the tusk to the Salder Castle Municipal Museum, which boasts a life-size reconstruction of an adult woolly mammoth in the Ice Age Garden.
The almost-80cm-long tusk is thought to have belonged to a six- to seven-year-old animal, which would have roamed the area during the last Ice Age some 110,000 to 10,000 years ago, according to museum director Arne Homann.
The museum is receiving expert support from Dr Ralf Kosma, of the State Natural History Museum Braunschweig, which is advising on the best methods of conservation of the tusk. It is currently lying in a tub of water to prevent it drying out, which could severely damage it, but once complete conservation is complete in a year or two, it will be put on display in a permanent exhibition.
Photo credit: Salder Castle Municipal Museum / City of Salzgitter
