The ice age is coming. In fact, it’s due to arrive at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh tomorrow, when a blockbusting exhibition, Mammoths of the Ice Age, opens.
The museum is bracing itself for the arrival of thousands of visitors from across the UK, pouring in to see the collection of rare items from the ice age which are being shown together for the first time in Europe.
For Keeper of Natural Sciences and mammoth expert Dr Nick Fraser, having the exhibition in Scotland is a dream come true.
Dr Fraser, who himself dug for mammoths early in his career, said: “We are thrilled to bring Mammoths of the Ice Age to the National Museum of Scotland from the world-renowned Field Museum in Chicago.
“The ice age was a fascinating period and we are excited to show how scientists have used a variety of evidence to reconstruct the lifestyles of these remarkable animals.
“We look forward to welcoming visitors to this great exhibition and hope that they find these colossal mammoths as awe-inspiring as our predecessors did.
“I think the exhibition is pretty stupendous and this will be the only chance to see such a great collection of items outwith the US,” said Dr Fraser.
At the interactive, family-friendly exhibition, visitors can get hands-on with skull casts, teeth, tusks and fossil jaws to learn about early evolutionary adaptations.
They can also discover how mammoths used their trunks and tusks and have a go at manipulating a mechanical trunk to pick up objects and help a mammoth balance the weight of its tusks.
There will be numerous objects for visitors to handle and touch including the biggest and smallest mammoths that ever lived, including a full-scale replica of a Columbian mammoth which would have stood around 13ft tall, and, at the opposite end of the scale, a dwarf mammoth.
Rare objects include a complete skeleton of a mastodon, some of the earliest art and tools made by humans, and woolly mammoth hair and dung, which usually perishes.
Also on display will be a replica model of Lyuba, the baby mammoth discovered in Siberia in 2007 – the best-preserved mammoth ever discovered.
“Visitors will have different reactions to different objects, but there’s no doubt Lyuba will be a big attraction while the restoration of the Columbian mammoth and sabre-toothed cat are stunning and impressive, as are the fossils themselves,” said Dr Fraser.
“Mammoths were enormous – a modern-day elephant is around three-quarters of the size of one, and some had tusks 15ft long.
“With a tusk that size, you need a huge neck, head and muscular system for support, so that gives you some idea of the size.
“I think what many will find surprising is that mammoths were around at the same time as man and, unquestionably, man would have eaten their flesh.
“In North America, there’s good evidence that native Americans hunted mammoth. In New Mexico, flint spears have been found intermingled with mammoth bones, which suggests hunting.”
Mammoths and mastodons lived side by side with humans for thousands of years and, as well as being a source of food, inspired artistic inspiration.
Visitors can see these great beasts through the eyes of ancient humans by examining artwork depicting mammoths in the form of miniature carvings made of bone, stone and mammoth ivory.
This early human artwork dates from between 35,000 and 10,000 years ago and is some of the oldest art in existence.
“In certain parts of the world, such as northern Siberia, mammoths lived alongside man until 4,000 years ago, which, in terms of the age of the Earth, is not a long time, so we know a bit more about these animals compared to say dinosaurs or sea monsters.
“Woolly mammoths also existed in Scotland, along with the woolly rhinoceros. Ayr is a particularly good spot for finding remains. We don’t have big numbers of big skeletons, but who knows what may turn up one day?”
The exhibition also looks at why mammoths may have died out, and investigates the theories surrounding their extinction, such as climate change, hunting, cross-species disease and a meteorite hitting the Earth.
“Visitors will be able to draw a parallel between this and what’s going on in the world today, such as climate change and animals which are under threat of becoming extinct.
“People will hopefully stop and think about that, as well as wonder about the miracle of nature from the past.”
Mammoths of the Ice Age is at the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, from tomorrow until Sunday, April 20. Admission to the museum is free, while admission to the exhibition costs £9 for adults, £7.50 concession, children (age 5-15) £6, family (two adults, two children) £25. Contact: 0300 123 67893.