An eerie Ice Age graveyard containing the remains of hundreds of giant mammoths has been uncovered beneath the site of a new airport in Mexico.
Archaeologists working north of Mexico City have unearthed around 200 mammoth skeletons, with many more believed to remain buried beneath the ground.
The extraordinary concentration of fossils has transformed the construction site into what researchers have dubbed “mammoth central.”
The animals are thought to have died between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago, when an ancient lake covered parts of the region.
Scientists believe the lake’s marshy shores may have attracted mammoths searching for water and vegetation — but the soft, muddy ground could also have become a deadly trap.
Once one enormous animal became stuck, others may have followed, creating a prehistoric death trap that remained hidden for thousands of years.
The discovery could offer scientists valuable clues about the lives and eventual disappearance of mammoths, which vanished from most of the world at the end of the Ice Age.
But the archaeological investigation has also uncovered evidence of something even more intriguing: possible human activity.
Some discoveries suggest ancient people may have used mammoth bones to make tools, raising questions about how humans interacted with the giant animals.
The sheer number of remains has created an unusual problem for modern construction crews.
At the Santa Lucía airport site, archaeologists must accompany bulldozers as they excavate the ground. Whenever a machine uncovers mammoth bones, work has to stop so the remains can be carefully recovered.
Beneath what will become a modern airport lies a haunting reminder of another world — one where 14-foot giants gathered around an ancient lake and disappeared into the mud.