LMX185 - EXTREMELY RARE LEFT AND RIGHT EUROPEAN ICE AGE FOSSIL REINDEER ANTLERS WITH PARTIAL SKULL

Product Description

ID

Rangifer tarandus (REINDEER)

FOUND

River Gravel Deposit - Central Europe

AGE

LATE PLEISTOCENE:  20,000 - 10,000 years ago

SIZE

42" and 33" high x 25" deep overall with skull

CONDITION

SINGLE REPAIR TO ANTLER MAIN BRANCH.
NO FABRICATION OR COMPOSITING
OF ADDITIONAL, UNRELATED ANTLERS
PER EACH SIDE.  SEALED AND STABLE.

NOTE

EXTREMELY RARE IN THIS LEVEL OF
COMPLETENESS.  GOOD PORTION OF SKULL 
AND ANTLER RACK STILL ATTACHED.
PERFECT FOR A MUSEUM OR TO DISPLAY 
WITH UPPER PALEOLITHIC HUMAN TOOLS
SINCE THE END OF EUROPE'S ICE AGE
WAS CALLED THE "AGE OF THE REINDEER".
CHOICE PRESERVATION AND COLOR.

NOT FROM THE SAME ANIMAL BUT IN THE
BEST MATCH OF FOSSIL ANTLERS WE HAVE
SEEN IN 17 YEARS.  FOUND DEEP IN GRAVEL
WITH WOOLLY RHINO, MEGALOCEROS,
AND MAMMOTH

Actual Item - One Only

Comes with a certificate of
authenticity / information sheet

CONTACT US TO PURCHASE THIS

In all our travels in Europe, we have seen very little large specimens of fossil reindeer and certainly, antlers of this level of completeness are a RARE FIND!  This is a left and right pair of well-matched Ice Age European reindeer antlers with partial skull.  The end of the Ice Age in Europe has been termed the AGE OF THE REINDEER.  At that time, there were vast treeless plains with massive herds of wild reindeer.  These animals were one of the main food sources hunted by Upper Paleolithic Cro-Magnons.  Some of the most beatiful prehistoric human art features reindeer and these regal beasts were a vital resource to human survival but also, a magnificent creature that was surely loved and worshipped based on the cave paintings and portable art that featured reindeer. 

Despite the numbers of prehistoric herds, the fossils of reindeer are abnormally absent from the fossil record.  Antler pieces are sometimes found that are much smaller than this large rack, but that is about it.  Perhaps prehistoric humans were so complete and resourceful in hunting that every remain was used, leaving little behind.  They were more delicate in skeletal anatomy than bison or rhino certainly, but their sheer numbers were so great, you would think the fossils would be as common as horse, but they are not. 

In 17 years of our travels and countless trips to the river dredges in Europe, we have never seen fossil Reindeer antlers this large and complete.  Furthermore, this is the most complete left and right sides we have seen. They are truly Ice Age in origin, having been found in excess of 30 meters deep in river gravel and brought up simultaneously with Woolly Rhinoceros, Mammoth and Megaloceros fossils.  A highly recommended fossil for a museum collection!  Exceptional detail to inside of cranium and with intact eye socket and anterior portion.  VERY, VERY RARE!

This would make a phenomenal display piece laying alongside  primitive hunting weapons of prehistoric man!  The color is natural and is a rich golden brown.  This is a rare fossil from a beast that is seldom found in Late Pleistocene fossil collections.  A great compliment to a primitive man stone tool and weapon collection as these animals lived alongside humans, played a vital role for resources in human survival during the last Ice Age and were hunted / revered by both Neanderthal man and Cro-Magnon man.