Mammoth tusk discovered by Cambridgeshire fossil hunters estimated to be 400,000 years old

  • Sarah Cooper reports on a mammoth discovery for two palaeontologists (Picture: Fossils Galore)

A mammoth tusk thought to be over 400,000 years old has been discovered at a quarry.

The tusk from the Steppe mammoth, the second biggest mammoth that ever lived, was found on a routine visit to a Cambridgeshire quarry by two palaeontologists on Tuesday.

The four-foot long tusk in now being preserved at Fossils Galore museum and activity centre in March near Peterborough.

Jamie Jordan, 33, curator and palaeontologist, revealed he made the discovery while with his dog.

He said: "Just looking over in the distance - I saw this hollow, tube, curved-like object and I was like 'Oh my God, we've come across a tusk.'

"It was just laying there, just waiting for us to turn up.

"It's a first for me. Normally it's odd bones here and there, just dotted around, but a tusk as big as that was just laying there."

Jamie Jordan (right) and Sarah Moore (left) with the Steppe mammoth tusk. Credit: ITV News Anglia

Mr Jordan has been collecting fossils since he was four years old and is now an expert along with Sarah Moore.

However, their latest find surprised them both, as Ms Moore, 28, explained: "It was in really good condition, because normally with tusks, you touch them and they disintegrate, but this one was actually nice and solid.

"It's solid one end, hollow the other, which is unusual, but at least we have the solid end so we can, at some point, count the rings and age the animal.

"It's about 450,000 years old, so it's just before that last Ice Age, when we still had a bit of sun, before everything got freezing cold."

The work to preserve the tusk can be watched my members of the public Credit: Fossils Galore

In 2017, the pair found the skeleton of an Iguanodon dinosaur and are gradually excavating the bones in order to preserve them.

It will take up to six months to do the same process for the tusk, with members of the public invited to watch the work at Fossils Galore.

Mr Jordan said: "We use a special preservation fluid, which I invented when I was 12.

"That preservation fluid will then seep to the centre of the bone, preserve it from the inside out and prevent it from decaying away and keep it nicely preserved, ready for future generations to come and future research as well."

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