Literally a 'mammoth task': The conservation, preparation and curation of the West Runton Mammoth skeleton

This project demonstrates the importance of having a well-funded post-excavation conservation programme employing a preparator-conservator not only to appropriately stabilise and conserve the physical material for detailed study but also to conserve information that might otherwise be lost e.g. orientation of bones when found, or the preservation of sedimentary structures. In addition, familiarity with the material resulting from several years of preparing the bones under a microscope has revealed important aspects of the material- relating often to taphonomy and pathology - that might otherwise have been missed.