Mammoth fossils luckly found in a mine are exhibited in Samsun Museum

14 years ago, mammoth fossils found by luckly in a mine in Samsun’s Ladik district started to be exhibited in Samsun Museum.

The Samsun Museum, which was opened to visitors in the past days, contains artifacts from the Hittite, Persian, Roman, Eastern Roman, Seljuk and Ottoman periods.

The museum also includes finds from the ancient city of Amisos and the Amisos Mosaic, bronze athlete statue, jewelry and artifacts from the Hellenistic period.

For the first time in the Black Sea Region, mammoth fossil was encountered in Samsun

Uğur Akyüz, an archaeologist at the Samsun Museum, told AA correspondent that mammoth fossils were encountered in Samsun for the first time in the Black Sea Region.

Stating that the teeth of the wild horse were also found along with the mammoth fossils, Akyüz said, “The molars and upper jaw of the mammoth were found in an old coal enterprise in Ladik district. Other fossils found in the same place are wild horses. Paleontologists examined them and determined that the fossils are 1 to 2 million years old. We started to exhibit these fossils for the first time in our new museum building. The fossils show us that 1 or 2 million years ago, the seas started to recede, land was formed and land life began.”

Stating that mammoth fossils have not yet been found elsewhere in the Black Sea Region, Akyüz said, “It does not mean that it will not be found, but at the moment there is only a mammoth fossil in Samsun Museum. It was delivered to us 10 years ago, but since the Samsun Museum was closed due to renovations, the new museum was expected to open. It was exhibited for the first time and opened to the exhibition.”

Cover Photo: İlyas Gün/AA