Scavenging a home: How Ice Age humans built houses from mammoth bones

In 1951, a team of researchers discovered a “bonehenge” in southwestern Russia—a concentrated ring of mammoth bones, clearly remnants of some kind of larger architectural structure. Pits with charred bones and ashes scattered the site, indicating an early use of fire. Researchers have dubbed these sites Kostenki complexes. Since then, three of these Kostenki complexes have been found across Russia, giving scientists a glimpse into the cultural practices of humans in the Upper Paleolithic period. The sites have remained a relative enigma, but recent biomolecular work suggests novel insights.

Source: Nandaro. 2025. Replica of a mammoth-bone structure. In: World History Encyclopedia. [Internet] [cited 2025 Feb 18]. Available from: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/6111/replica-of-a-mammoth-bone-structure/ 

After applying new morphological methods to determine sex ratios, results show that the sites consist of 57% female bones and 43% male bones. Though they may seem insignificant, these numbers actually provide valuable information as to how ancient humans came across their architectural material. 

Woolly Mammoths traveled either in female and juvenile herds or as solitary males. As the majority of the bones from these mammoth structures were either female or juvenile, it seems that ancient humans would steer clear of lone male mammoths when scavenging or hunting. Not only this, but mitochondrial DNA samples have illustrated that not all the bones are from the same matriline, or matriarchal group. Some bones were hundreds of years older than the others. This means that the bones from multiple herds of mammoths, spanning centuries, were found in the same architectural bone structure. 

Source: Pryor AJE, Beresford-Jones DG, Dudin AE, Ikonnikova EM, Hoffecker JF, Gamble C. 2020. The chronology and function of a new circular mammoth-bone structure at Kostenki 11. Antiquity [Internet]. [cited 2025 Feburary 18]; 94(374):323–341. doi:10.15184/aqy.2020.7. Available from: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/chronology-and-function-of-a-new-circular-mammothbone-structure-at-kostenki-11/F6A3DA5935550AFA04671CA944EB511F

This new evidence supports the theory that early modern humans scavenged more than they hunted. Early humans are often depicted with spears in hand as they chase after wild mammoths. It is representative of the spirit of man that from our very conception we have acted as the proverbial “king” of the jungle. However, if the bones at the Kostenki complexes span such a wide range of ages, sexes, and herds, it is more likely they were collected rather than hunted. Tracking multiple distinct groups across such a vast area would have been a difficult task, not to mention impossible over time.