In the North Kazakhstan Region, remains of two humans and an ancient animal were discovered during bridge construction, according to infohub.kz.
The unusual find was made near the village of Pribrezhnoe, located close to Petropavlovsk. Workers noticed the artifacts while excavating a sand quarry with an excavator during the bridge's construction. The finds were brought to the surface, and police were immediately called.
Law enforcement launched an investigation and stated that no criminal elements were found.
Meanwhile, candidate of historical sciences and archaeologist Anatoly Pleshakov has already studied the animal remains. According to preliminary data, one of the bones belongs to a woolly rhinoceros that inhabited this area until approximately the 12th millennium BCE. The period to which the human remains belong is still unknown. Therefore, scientists plan to conduct a more detailed study of both the artifacts and the quarry itself.
"The woolly rhinoceros is what we call mammoth fauna, from the Paleolithic period, the Ice Age. If it turns out that at least one of these skulls dates to the same time, it would be a super sensation. If I already say that finds of mammoth fauna are a sensation, then this would be a super sensation. Because one of the skulls is heavily fractured, so it's quite interesting," notes archaeologist Anatoly Pleshakov.