The Big Issue – August 19, 2019

30 | BIGISSUE.COM ǼȄɯǽȀg&g]cǽǻǼȄ

sea level was dozens of metres lower

than it is today. Fishermen trawling

the Dogger Bank sometimes catch

mammoth tusks and other ice age

relics (including Neanderthal bones),

ƪ쯯ƟĩĢŁƢŻůƷʼnĩƪĩþǴŦŻŻƢǜʼnĩƢĩƷʼnĩǢ

have lain for millennia.

Britain itself is a veritable ice-age

fossil wonderland. If we take just one

species, the woolly mammoth, we

have a record going back hundreds

of thousands of years, including

some of the very last European

mammoths ever found (from

Condover in Shropshire and only

14,000 years old). We know more

about mammoths than nearly any

other ice-age mammal thanks to

mummies preserved in Siberian

permafrost, copious art painted on

cave walls and even sculptures carved

out of mammoth ivory by people who

lived and breathed alongside these

giant wonders of nature. Conservative

estimates suggest there are more than

a million mammoths still lying buried

in the permafrost. Plenty of material

ƪƷŎŦŦŦĩǼƷŁŻƢƪƷƿĢǢ᠆

ȃƢŻƿłʼnþűþŦǢƪŎƪŻŁƷʼnĩŎƢłĩűĩƪ

we know that some mammoths were

blonde, most were brunette, some

had silky hair, others had limited

sense of smell. Mammoths lived in

matriarchal groups, like elephants

do today, and certainly would have

had their own unique culture, have

trod the same paths to waterholes for

ěĩűƷƿƢŎĩƪ᠄þűĢůŻĢŎȀĩĢƷʼnĩʼnþĚŎƷþƷ

ƷʼnĩǢŦŎǛĩĢŎűĚǢǴŦþƷƷĩűŎűłƷƢĩĩƪ᠄

clearing snow and fertilising the earth

ǜŎƷʼnƷŻűűĩƪŻŁůþűƿƢĩĢþǢþǼƷĩƢĢþǢ᠐

While most mammoths were gone by

the end of the Pleistocene, one Arctic

island had mammoths until 2500BC.

àƢþűłĩŦSƪŦþűĢʼnĩŦĢůþůůŻƷʼnƪþǼƷĩƢ

®ƷŻűĩʼnĩűłĩǜþƪěŻűƪƷƢƿěƷĩĢ᠄þǼƷĩƢ

ǜƢŎƷŎűłǜþƪŎűǛĩűƷĩĢ᠐ȃĩǢůƿƪƷʼnþǛĩ

ĚĩĩűůþłűŎȀěĩűƷ᠐

We have evidence, far too much

evidence, that people hunted them.

We have mammoth shoulder blades

ǜŎƷʼnǴŦŎűƷƪƟĩþƢƟŻŎűƷƪƪƷŎŦŦĢĩĩƟŦǢ

embedded from a hunt that took place

200 centuries ago. We have bones

broken and burnt, and ivory chipped

and whittled, to show that mammoths

were a one-stop-shop for Palaeolithic

needs. Mammoths and nearly all the

giant mammals that lived in ice age-

Europe and Britain are not here today.

ȃĩĩěʼnŻƪƟĩþţƪ᠃ŎƷǜþƪƿƪ᠐

ȄĩrŎƪƪŎűłhǢűǡ by

Ross Barnett is out now

(Bloomsbury, £16.99)

g=cgYʸ

BOOKS

A

fossil is just an echo. Reaching out to

us from the past, the further in time

it’s travelled, the weaker the tale it tells.

Luckily, some of the most fascinating

stories come from fossils of animals that have only

just gone. In geological time, we just missed them.

ȃĩůþůůŻƷʼnþűĢƷʼnĩǜŻŻŦŦǢƢʼnŎűŻ᠐ȃĩƪþĚƢĩƷŻŻƷʼn

cat þűĢƷʼnĩSƢŎƪʼnĩŦţ᠐ȃĩěþǛĩŦŎŻűþűĢƷʼnĩěþǛĩĚĩþƢ᠐

All these species disappeared along with the closing

of the ice age, the Pleistocene epoch, around

11,700 years ago.

Today, we are all eyewitnesses to the sixth mass

ĩǡƷŎűěƷŎŻű᠃þŦŻƿĢƪěƢĩþůƷʼnþƷǜŎŦŦƢĩƪŻűþƷĩŎűƷŻƷʼnĩ

future to tell any survivors how lightly we valued our

planet. Some people think that the sixth extinction

only started with the silent springs of the 20th

ěĩűƷƿƢǢ᠐ȃĩŦŻƪƪŻŁƪƟĩěŎĩƪŦŎţĩƷʼnĩʼnƿŎþ᠄ƷʼnĩƷʼnǢŦþěŎűĩ

and the passenger pigeon can seem anomalous,

exceptional even. Nothing could be further from

the truth.

SŻǼƷĩűƷʼnŎűţŻűƷʼnĩŁþƷĩŻŁƷʼnĩłĩűƷŦĩ®ƷĩŦŦĩƢᡒƪƪĩþ

cow. A giant (up to 10 tonnes and nine metres long)

relative of dugongs and manatees, its last refuge was

ƷʼnĩŁƢŎłŎĢ£þěŎȀěǜþƷĩƢŻŁƷʼnĩ ŻůůþűĢĩƢSƪŦþűĢƪ᠄

east of Kamchatka. Here, in 1741, shipwrecked

Russian sailors discovered it. One of their number

was a trained naturalist, Georg Steller, who while

surrounded by scurvy and starvation took copious

notes on the sea cow that would later bear his name.

ȃĩþűŎůþŦǜþƪƷʼnĩŎƢƪþǛŎŻƿƢ᠐tþŕǛĩƷŻƷʼnĩƷʼnƢĩþƷ

of humans, it could be approached without fear,

ĢƢþłłĩĢƷŻƪʼnŻƢĩǜŎƷʼnƢŻƟĩƪþűĢǴŦĩűƪĩĢþŦŎǛĩ᠐

Steller pathetically relates how in the

monogamous pairs the males would stay by the

bodies of their butchered mates for days. His journals

are full of gastronomic notes on the taste of the

seacow; blubber that had a pleasant hint of almonds

and could be eaten raw, meat that was comparable

ƷŻƷʼnĩȀűĩƪƷǛĩþŦ᠐ȃĩŎűŻDzŁĩűƪŎǛĩĚĩþƪƷ᠄ƷþţĩűþƷ

leisure, gave the crew the means to survive a vicious

ǜŎűƷĩƢ᠐ȃĩǢůþĢĩŎƷĚþěţƷŻrŻƪěŻǜþűĢƷƢŎłłĩƢĩĢ

a stampede of whalers and fur-hunters anxious to

exploit the fauna of the Commander Islands. By

 ᚆᚅᚇűŻƪĩþěŻǜƪǜĩƢĩŦĩǼƷþŦŎǛĩ᠐¼ǜĩűƷǢᠸƪĩǛĩűǢĩþƢƪ

ŻŁěŻűƷþěƷǜŎƷʼnʼnƿůþűƪǜþƪƪƿDzȀěŎĩűƷŁŻƢƷʼnĩŎƢ

total eradication.

Extinction is ever present. Since modern humans

ȀƢƪƷŦĩǼƷŁƢŎěþᚅᙹ᠄ᙹᙹᙹǢĩþƢƪþłŻ᠄ĩǡƷŎűěƷŎŻűʼnþƪĚĩĩű

our constant travelling companion. If our species has

ŦĩǼƷþŦĩłþěǢŁŻƢƷʼnĩŁƿƷƿƢĩ᠄ŎƷŎƪƷʼnŎƪ᠐

NŻůŻƪþƟŎĩűƪȀƢƪƷþƢƢŎǛĩĢŎű/ƿƢŻƟĩþĚŻƿƷ

40,000 years ago at the height of the ice age, and

ĩűěŻƿűƷĩƢĩĢþǜŎŦĢ/ĢĩűȀŦŦĩĢǜŎƷʼnłŎþűƷůþůůþŦƪ᠐

ȃĩůþůůŻƷʼnŁþƿűþǜĩƢĩþƷʼnŻůĩĩǛĩűŎűƢŎƷþŎű᠐

þěţƷʼnĩűŻƿƢŎƪŦþűĢǜþƪŠƿƪƷþƟĩűŎűƪƿŦþ᠐ȃĩtŻƢƷʼn

Sea didn’t exist. So much water was locked up in

giant ice sheets over Scotland and Scandinavia that

Illustration: Joseph Joyce

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欽ÞË£½ËĤɫûæ¬ÄæÚæêÚÞÄö©æ

º¬½½æ©ÃËąÞüÞRoss BarnettÄæ©

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AUTHORFEATURE

The deadliest

predator