Hannibal crossed the Alps on war elephants, archaeologists confirm

Fresco from the mid-18th century. Photo12/UIG/Getty Images

Depictions of the Second Punic War, which Hannibal waged against the ancient Romans, have long suggested that he had an army of war elephants. However, there was no confirmation of this until the animal's remains were found near Cordoba during excavations of Iron Age layers.

"With the exception of ivory artifacts, archaeologists very rarely find elephant remains in Europe," write the research team in a scientific article published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

Hannibal is considered one of the most successful generals of antiquity. He led his army from Carthage (modern Tunisia) into Europe, fighting for control of the Mediterranean.

Ancient historians — primarily Polybius and Livy — wrote that Hannibal's army included war elephants when he marched on Rome through the territories of modern France and Spain.

Estimates of their number (and how many survived the crossing of the Alps in 218 BC) vary: Eutropius wrote that 37 elephants reached Italy, while Polybius mentions only 21 elephants at Hannibal's disposal on the Iberian Peninsula.

The bone found in Spain most likely belonged to an elephant that died before the crossing of the Alps.

Archaeologists led by Professor Rafael M. Martínez Sánchez discovered the elephant bone under a ruined wall at a site called La Calina de los Quemados.

Павялічыць

Top row - bone found in Spain

Scientists used radiocarbon dating to estimate the "age" of the bone. The result allowed them to suggest that the bone dates to the period of the Second Punic War (218-201 BC). They also compared the bone with those of modern elephants and steppe mammoths to determine which animal it belonged to.

During excavations in 2020, archaeologists also found artillery, coins, and pottery, which served as additional evidence that they were dealing with a battlefield.

"Given that these animals – the largest land animals – are not native to Europe, they must have been transported by ship," scientists say. It is unlikely that dead elephants were also transported by ship. The bone itself is unprocessed, so its use as a tool or simply as a decorative object can also be ruled out.

Scientists believe that determining the exact species of the elephant whose remains they found will be very difficult.

"This bone is unlikely to have belonged to one of the legendary elephants that Hannibal took on his march across the Alps, but nevertheless, it is probably the first material evidence (so diligently sought by European scientists) that war elephants participated in the Punic Wars," conclude the archaeologists in their article.

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