Hannibal marching his elephants over the Alps is one of history’s most legendary moments, and now archaeologists have found a bone that proves it really happened.
During the Second Punic War, the Carthaginian general Hannibal famously used enormous beasts of war to devastating effect against the Roman forces.
Until now, almost all the evidence for the elephants has come from historical accounts and artists’ depictions of battles.
However, in 2020, archaeologists discovered a single bone buried beneath a consulting room at the Cordoba Provincial Hospital, Spain.
Archaeologists believe that this 10–centimetre cube is a carpal bone from the right forefoot of an elephant in Hannibal’s invading army.
While the bone was worn and poorly preserved, archaeologists managed to identify its origin by comparing it with modern elephant and mammoth bones.
Despite there not being enough DNA to confirm the exact species, the researchers were able to carbon date a tiny sample of the bone.
This places the elephant’s death between the late fourth and early third centuries BC – right in the middle of the Second Punic War.
Archaeologists have found a bone belonging to an elephant that could prove Hannibal really did march his elephants over the Alps to attack Italy during the Second Punic War
The newly discovered bone (top) compared to modern elephant bones (middle) and a mammoth (bottom)
This may be the first piece of direct evidence that suggests the Carthaginian general Hannibal invaded continental Europe using war Elephants, a fact that had only been recorded in historical records and artistic depictions
The Punic Wars were a series of three conflicts between the Roman Republic and the Carthaginian Empire that took place between 264 and 146 BC.
One of the Carthaginians’ most notorious strategies was the use of war elephants – specially trained and armoured African forest elephants that trampled through enemy soldiers.
During the Second Punic War, Hannibal led an army of over 30,000 infantrymen, 7,000 cavalrymen, and 37 elephants up through Spain, across modern–day France, and over the Alps to appear in Italy’s lightly defended north.
This incredible feat of military strategy has been passed down in historical accounts, illustrations, and even on coins showing a man riding an elephant.
There is very little direct evidence to prove that this is anything more than an exaggerated rumour from ancient history.
However, the discovery of an elephant bone from the Second Punic War in Cordoba might be the first real proof that Hannibal really did invade continental Europe with elephants.
This site is not only on Hannibal’s supposed warpath, but it was also home to the ‘oppidum of Corduba’ – a fortified town occupying a strategic terrace above the Guadalquivir River.
Importantly, the archaeologists didn’t only find the elephant’s bone, they also found the signs of a battle that seems to have destroyed much of the ancient town.
The modern–day town of Cordoba is near Hannibal’s supposed route up Spain towards the Alps. The archaeologists believe that he might have attacked the town in passing, leaving behind the bones of a fallen elephant.
In their paper, published in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, the researchers write: ‘Archaeologically, the destruction level documented at Colina de los Quemados fits well within an emerging pattern of events associated with the Second Punic War.’
Additionally, the archaeologists found 12 spherical stone balls, which would have been fired from artillery pieces during open battles and siege warfare.
The researchers also found heavy arrowheads associated with siege weapons known as ‘scorpia’, and coins minted in Cartagena between 237 and 206 BC.
Together, this provides extremely strong evidence that the town was attacked by Carthaginian troops during the time of Hannibal’s invasion.
While the researchers admit that the bone might have been carried to the town for other reasons, potentially for trade, they don’t believe this is the most likely scenario.
Since the bone was small and quite unattractive, it wouldn’t have had much value or use to any travellers.
Therefore, the most likely explanation is that it comes from the remains of one of Hannibal’s elephants, potentially killed while attacking the oppidum of Corduba.
The researchers conclude: ‘The carpal of the elephant from Colina de los Quemados in Cordoba (Spain) may constitute one of the scarce instances of direct evidence on the use of these animals during Classical Antiquity, not only in the Iberian Peninsula but also in Western Europe.’
THE CARTHAGINANS
Pictured: the location of Cartage, with the extent of the Carthaginian Empire in blue
Ancient Carthage was a Phoenician civilisation centred around Carthage, on the Gulf of Tunis, which founded by colonists from Tyre in 814 BC.
At its height during the fourth century BC, the city–state became the largest metropolis in world, with an empire that dominated the western Mediterranean.
It had a mercantile network that extended from north Europe down to west Africa and across to west Asia.
Far less is known about Carthage’s peoples than those of ancient Rome or Greece, as most indigenous records were destroyed — along with the city — following the Third Punic War in 146 BC.
Their victory in this conflict paved the way for the Roman civilisation to become the dominant power in the Mediterranean.
