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Mammoth task! Russian experts reveal 44,000-year-old giant after painstaking restoration

Mammoth task! Russian experts reveal 44,000-year-old giant after painstaking restoration

"Visitors to the International Restoration Centre in the village of Rozhdestveno, in Russia’s Leningrad region, have been given the chance to view the fully restored skeleton of a 44,000-year-old mammoth known as Tadibe, first discovered in the Ural region. Footage captured on Friday shows guests examining the remains of the extinct giant, which specialists have spent years carefully reconstructing. Yuri Starikov, head of the workshop for the restoration of natural history objects, explained that experts succeeded in almost completely rebuilding the mammoth skeleton. "The greatest challenge was the restoration of the skull, as it was significantly damaged. Many parts were missing. We restored them. Each bone was composed of three fragments. We glued them together and restored some lost bone parts. Practically, 80 percent of the skeleton [remains intact], and the black fragments indicate the missing bones," he said. Starikov added that the team also created comparison pieces for visitors. "For comparison, small 3D-printed elements of a mammoth vertebra and a human vertebra, as well as a mammoth tooth and a human tooth, are also presented." The mammoth was first found in the summer of 2020 by resident Konstantin Tadibe on the shore of Lake Pechavalavato. Excavations were carried out by palaeontologists the following autumn. According to the centre’s press service, the exhibition 'How Tadibe the Mammoth Came to Rozhdestveno' will run from August 29 until February 1, 2026. "