Thursday, August 7, 2008

The woolly mammoths of Akademgorodok

It took me about 9 months to discover the mammoths of Akademgorodok, hidden in the back of the building across the street from Traveller's coffee (that building is sometimes referred to as the Institute of Acheology and Ethnography... still, if you are looking for it, it is easier to ask about "the building across Traveller's"). That is about 6 months to even know that there were mammoths in my town, and 3 to motivate myself to go see them.
2 specimens of Mammoth primigenius are exposed in the hallway of the institute, and displayed free of charge for the people who enjoy a bit of culture over a double fat free latte. I believe they are woolly mammoths, but the wool has long gone off the skelettons of these guys, so it is hard to tell. So is the trump, which probably drifted away from the mammoth's nose along with the melting glacier at the end of the ice age (that is pure speculation from my part, don't quote this as a scientific fact).
Note the extra effort by the zealous staff to make them look more realistic by placing plastic dinosaurs and alligators at the feet of the giant beast.

Posted by Picasa

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah, Rhys enjoyed the mammoths at Cardiff museum - he was a bit suprised they were actually woolly and moved and trumpeted...

Ian said...

Mmm, barbecued woolly mammoth goes good with Vodka.

Anonymous said...

so do you think the trump fell off before or after the trunk disappeared?