Rusdi, a farmer from Grobogan, Central Java, discovered a giant ancient elephant fossil (stegodon) while digging a well in his field on Thursday, June 8, 2017. The fossils found in the village of Banjarejo are in relatively intact condition and estimated to be 700,000 years old.
Banjarejo Village Head Ahmad Taufik recounted, during the excavation to a depth of about 1.5 meters, Rusdi saw the elephant bone parts that are estimated to be two to three times larger than normal elephants. After seeing that, Taufik and Rusdi reported their findings to the village hall.
"We were able to dig for three days at night, because of fasting and it was beyond our expectations that the elephant's bones were still visible and we reported it to Sangiran Museum," said Taufik from Merdeka.com, Thursday, June 15 2017.
Meanwhile, Head of Conservation Center of Ancient Human Site (BPSMP) Sangiran Sukronedi assess the discovery was very phenomenal. The elephant fossil monster is still intact and complete, including an estimated four meters long ivory.
"We estimate that this fossil is a Stegedon elephant, which is phenomenal, we will examine it again, the fossil remains intact, and in one excavation site," Sukronedi said.
Sangiran BPSMP team has checked the discovery location on Monday, June 12 yesterday. The team believes, according to initial observations, the fossil is a Stegodon elephant.
"We will conduct additional research to supplement the supporting data, the current excavation area reaches a radius of 5x6 meters, but the new BPSMP team will continue excavation or excavation after Eid," he said.
Sukronedi explains, in Indonesia there are three generations of ancient elephants that ever lived, namely Mastodon (1.5 million years ago), Stegodon (1.2 million years ago), and Elephas who lived at about 800,000 years ago.
"BPSMP observed for three days, including making early fossil rescue efforts, such as smearing fossils with chemicals to make it stronger," he said.
The Sangiran BPSMP team also closed the excavation site with a tarp. Ancient fossils are often found in this village. Up to now there have been as many as 1,100 fossil fractures from 15 species of primordial animals, ranging from elephants, rhinoceros, crocodiles, buffalo, and others.
