Dr. Deborah Ruscillo Examining the Fossil Elephant Bone
In her ten years as Director of the Wiener Laboratory, Dr. Sherry Fox has been asked some odd questions here at the American School. “What is the gestation period of a frog?” for example, was one such query. To-date, the most unique question that has been asked was by Mr. Nikos Iliopoulos from Kozani on May 6th, 2009. Led by his friend, General Manager of the American School, Mr. Pantelis Panos—Mr. Iliopoulos came into the Wiener Laboratory carrying a black plastic bag with unknown contents and asked us to identify it. Present at the unveiling was current Research Associate and former Faunal Fellow, Dr. Deborah Ruscillo. The bag contained the proximal left shinbone or tibia of an extremely large mammal. It was obvious to Dr. Ruscillo that the bone was from a young individual as the proximal end of the bone (epiphysis) was unfused. Former Angel Fellow, Mrs. Eleni Stravopodi, of the Ephorate of Paleoanthropology and Speleology of Southern Greece, immediately became aware of the find and contacted her colleague, Dr. Athanassios Athanassiou, a paleontologist with the Ephorate. The bone is currently at the Ephorate, under the direction of Dr. Nina Kyparissi-Apostolika. Collaborators may include personnel from both the University of Athens and the Wiener Laboratory, including 2008-2009 Faunal Fellow, Dr. Rozalia Christidou.
Dr. Athanassiou has already prepared a preliminary report on the fossil. He states that it belongs to the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene species Mammuthus meridionalis or the European Middle to Upper Pleistocene Elephas antiquus. Of special interest is the appearance of possible cutmarks on the tibia. Although some of these marks may be post-depositional artifact, some could have been produced by hominids. Dr. Athanassiou and Mrs. Stravopodi have proposed that additional studies are necessary to have a better understanding of the date of the find; the internal structure through X-ray, histology, and possible molecular analyses of the bone; along with a study of the cutmarks utilizing macroscopic examination, and microscopy, including SEM (scanning electron microscopy). Additionally, we hope to learn more about the context of this important find. The combination of these studies and the contextual information could shed light on the taxonomy, environment, and way of life during the Plio-Pleistocene of Greece.
Following completion of the study, the fossil will be moved to the Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology and Speleology of Northern Greece under the directorship of Dr. Andreas Darlas.
