史上最多、マンモスの骨８００個発見　捕獲用わなも？　メキシコ

【メキシコ市ＡＦＰ＝時事】絶滅したマンモス少なくとも14頭の骨800個が、メキシコ中部で見つかった。考古学チームが6日、明らかにした。マンモスの化石の発見としては史上最多となるという。（写真はメキシコ中部トゥルテペックで発見されたマンモスの骨。メキシコ国立人類学歴史学研究所提供）
　メキシコ国立人類学歴史学研究所によると、考古学チームは、１万４０００年以上も前に人間がマンモスを捕獲するために設置したわなも史上初めて発見したと考えている。いくつかの穴が、マンモスが捕獲されたことを示しているためだという。
　発掘現場は首都メキシコ市郊外のトゥルテペック。近くではアンドレス・マヌエル・ロペスオブラドール政権が新空港の建設を進めている。
　研究チームによると、発掘現場にはマンモスの群れが少なくとも五つ存在していたという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/11/08-08:50）

Archaeologists said Wednesday they have made the largest-ever discovery of mammoth remains: a trove of 800 bones from at least 14 of the extinct giants found in central Mexico.
Moreover, they believe they have made the first-ever find of a mammoth trap set by humans, who would have used it to capture the huge herbivores more than 14,000 years ago, said Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
This is the largest find of its kind ever made, the institute said in a statement.
The skeletal remains were found in Tultepec, near the site where President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's government is building a new airport for Mexico City.
Some bore signs that the animals had been hunted, leading experts to conclude that they had found the world's first mammoth trap, it said.
Mammoths lived here for thousands of years. The herds grew, reproduced, died, were hunted... They lived alongside other species, including horses and camels, archaeologist Luis Cordoba told journalists.
Researchers said at least five mammoth herds lived in the area of the find.
Mexico has been the scene of surprising mammoth discoveries before.
In the 1970s, workers building the Mexico City subway found a mammoth skeleton while digging on the capital's north side.