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Extraordinary discovery: Bone of a war elephant from Hannibal's legendary battles found in Spain

2026-02-17 21:38:50Histori SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

An elephant leg bone found by archaeologists digging in southern Spain could be evidence that a troop of war elephants roamed ancient Europe. It would be the first concrete evidence of the legendary Carthaginian general Hannibal's battle elephant troop, according to academics.

Drawings of Hannibal's war against the Romans had long suggested that these large animals were used in combat, but until now no hard evidence supported the theories.

The skeletal remains of these creatures were found in an Iron Age excavation near Cordoba.

"Beyond ivory, the discovery of elephant remains in European archaeological contexts is extremely rare," the team of scientists says in a paper published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Often considered one of the most successful commanders of classical times, Hannibal led his army from the powerful imperial city of Carthage, in present-day Tunisia, into Europe as he fought to control the Mediterranean.

Extraordinary discovery: Bone of a war elephant from Hannibal's legendary

It is thought that he took soldiers and animals from Carthage through Spain and France to conquer Italy, crossing the Alps with 37 elephants in 218 BC during the Second Punic Wars.

The remains found in Spain are believed to be from an animal that died before reaching the Alps. Archaeologists, led by Professor Rafael M. Martínez Sánchez, found the elephant bone under a collapsed wall at a site called Colina de los Quemados.

They used carbon dating to estimate the age of the bone, which is a 10cm cube. The results led them to believe it was from the Second Punic War. They also compared the bone to modern elephants and steppe mammoths to determine which animal it came from.

Extraordinary discovery: Bone of a war elephant from Hannibal's legendary

The team found artillery, coins and pottery during the 2020 excavations, providing further evidence that the site belonged to a battle. “As non-native species, the largest living land animals, these imported animals would have required transportation by ship,” the academics said.

They say it is highly unlikely that the dead animals were transported, and the bones are not attractive, suggesting they were not decorative or used in crafts. But scientists say it will be very challenging to determine which species of elephant they were.

"If [the bone] did not represent one of the mythical specimens that Hannibal carried across the Alps, it could potentially embody the first known relic, so sought after by European scholars of the Modern Era, of the animals used in the Roman Punic Wars for control of the Mediterranean," the scientists state in their study.

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