NGN Sponsors Mammoth Tusk Restoration

Treasure revealed at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Spurn point nature reserve

On Sunday 6th of April a woolly mammoth tusk was found at the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Spurn Point Nature Reserve. The tusk was first noticed on Saturday 5th by some unsuspecting passers by who initially dismissed it as rubbish. However, on Sunday 7th a group of three excited children happened to stumble across the tusk believing it to be something of a treasure. They were later found to be right!

The treasure was revealed buried within the sand of Spurn’s beach during a family day out. Arachai and Blousy Haorang and their cousin Connor Clark came across what looked like a ‘piece of old wood’, believing it to be part of a dinosaur or whale. The children were instructed by their family to leave the object alone but were determined to dig out their treasure and discover what it could possibly be. After their hard work to carry what proved to be a very heavy object to our on-site warden Andrew Gibson for identification, the family were very pleasantly surprised to find the ‘piece of old wood’ was in fact part of a woolly mammoth tusk. Andrew’s initial identification was later confirmed by Peter Holken a palaeontologist based at Hull University. The tusk, found near post 17 of the reserve, has now been dated as being aged between 12,000 and 75,000 years old, based on the last Ice Age. It could potentially be the largest piece of tusk ever found within the East Yorkshire region.

The YWT is very keen to keep this rare treasure at our Spurn reserve where the public can have access to view it and are currently investigating the best possible methods in which to conserve the tusk it in its present state. We would like to take this opportunity to say a very big thank you to Northern Gas Networks, a gold corporate member of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, who are kindly sponsoring the preservation of this exciting artefact. John O’Grady, Director of Communications for Northern Gas Networks commented: “We are delighted to be able to help with the preservation of this unique and important find. The gas which we transport through our 37,000km of pipes was created in prehistoric times so we have a close affinity to things like this.”

Interestingly Arachai and Blousy Haorang have again visited Spurn this weekend and have now found an Elk bone at the Point, in a totally separate location to where they found the tusk! The bone is thought to have been washed out of the peat bog at the reserve and again provides us with another interesting insight into the history of this incredible reserve. These children could be on the verge of a future career in archaeology!

There will be a bus service operated by EYMS to Spurn reserve from Sunday 4th May until Sunday 26th October. So why not take this opportunity to visit the site and discover some history for yourself!