Dating the extinction of European mammoths: new evidence from Estonia

Five mammoth molars, four pieces of tusk and one bone fragment found in different parts of Estonia were radiocarbon dated using the AMS method. Six of the analysed samples gave an infinite date. These remains originate most likely from an ice-free period during the Early Weichselian or early Middle Weichselian. The molar from Mooste, southeast Estonia was dated at 31,000 BP, and seems thus to belong to the same faunal complex as several other previously dated mammoth specimens recovered in Finland and other Nordic countries. Two molars from Puurmani, central Estonia gave an age of ca 10,000 BP, suggesting a late relict mammoth population living in northeast Europe during the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene transition.