Archaeologists in Spain have discovered an elephant bone that is about 2,200 years old, which, according to experts, may belong to an animal that served as a “war machine.”
Researchers who discovered the bone at the Colina de los Quemados archaeological site in the city of Cordoba, southern Spain, used radiocarbon dating to determine that it belonged to an elephant that lived from the early 4th century BC to the late 3rd century BC.
During that time, the city-state of Carthage, located in what is now Tunisia, was battling the Roman Empire for dominance in the Mediterranean.
According to research, the Carthaginians used elephants as “war machines” in their armies, and the famous commander Hannibal drove a detachment of 37 elephants through modern-day Spain and France.
