Around 20,000 years ago, mammoths were among the most characteristic animals of the Ice Age. They were widely distributed across Europe, Asia, and North America, inhabiting the cold open steppes and tundras to which they were well adapted. For Stone Age people, mammoths were an important source of food and raw materials, as evidenced by numerous bones finds and prehistoric cave paintings. It is believed that most mammoths became extinct at the end of the last Ice Age, approximately 10,000–12,000 years ago, as climate change transformed their habitats and increasing human activity placed additional pressure on their populations.
Mammoths belonged to the order Proboscidea and were close relatives of modern elephants. This group of animals originated in Africa around 5 million years ago and later spread across much of the Northern Hemisphere. Over the course of evolution, several mammoth species developed, including the southern mammoth.
Like modern elephants, mammoths had six teeth in use at any one time—four molars and two tusks. Their molars were large and composed of numerous enamel plates, making them exceptionally well adapted for grinding tough vegetation such as grasses, sedges, and other steppe plants. Throughout their lifetime, mammoths replaced their molars up to six times: as a worn tooth gradually moved forward and fell out, a new one emerged from the back of the jaw to take its place.
The mammoth molar displayed here was discovered in 1933 in the Jiesia River, Kaunas District, Lithuania. It is one of the most significant Ice Age faunal finds in Lithuania, reminding us that tens of thousands of years ago our region were home to impressive large herbivores. Discoveries such as this help scientists better understand Lithuania’s natural past, the fauna of the Ice Age, and the environmental changes that have shaped the landscape over time.
