Page 25 - The Restless Earth Fossils

24 Fossils

A 10,000-year-old, 4-foot Siberian baby mammoth carcass is
examined in the Arctic city of Salekhard in July 2007—a discovery
that could help us understand more about climate change.

from performing their recycling chores. Because we are living
during a warm interlude between a series of ice ages or glacia-
tions extending back some 2 million years, the bodies of mam-
moths or other extinct creatures also become exposed as the
glacier ice melts.
The word mummy may conjure images of a bandage-
wrapped body chasing some archaeologist down a passage in
an Egyptian tomb. Ancient Egyptians and other peoples have,
in fact, intentionally removed internal organs and applied salt
and other chemicals to inhibit decay in human bodies as part
of their religious and cultural traditions. Scientists do not usu-
ally consider mummified human bodies to be fossils, but natural
mummification does occur in both dry and cold climates to

RE_Fossils2print.indd 24 3/17/09 8:58:52 AM