In the summer in1939, as usual, the village boys swam in the Oyesh . Suddenly they
noticed, that from a coastal breakaway jut out the direct brown radical. They
decided break it off, and then pulled out from the ground the slightly curved tusk of a
mammoth. They already heard about the fossil of giants lived in these places at once, and
they told about the find to their teacher, who send information about it to Novosibirsk.
In some days the employees of the Novosibirsk Regional Study Museum arrived
in Vahrushevo. The excavation began on the bank of the Oyesh with the participation
of boys. In some days the whole skeleton of a mammoth is extracted. It’s remains were
carefully cleared and sorted, and then, by examining the bones, museum employees
determined, that the boys were lucky to detect the whole skeleton of a mammoth female,
occurring very rarely.
Bones were transported in Novosibirsk and are handed on the storage to the museum
department of a nature. The skull with short direct tusks decorated an exposition,
and remaining bones are located in storehouse. The World War II was soon begun. Museum
employees packed mammoth female’s bones into boxes and delivered them for long storage
together with other exhibits.
Only in 1974 the remains of mammoth's female were extracted from storehouse. It was
decided to construct the whole skeleton. For the bones restoration and skeleton assemblage
the employee of the History Institute of Siberian Branch of Sciences Academy known
siberian scientist N. Ovodov was engaged. It is not easy to make the whole skeleton of
separate bones. At first it is necessary to clear the bones of dust, then for some days to
impregnate them in the special preserving solution, then to paste the bursted and broken
parts together . But that is not all. Usually small-sized bones are not saved, therefore
it is necessary to produce the replacement for them - the copy. And only then, after
careful measurements of all bones, it is possible begin to make an iron frame, on which
the skeleton will be kept. For some months N. Ovodov with his voluntary assistants -
employees of various institutes of Novosibirsk Science Centre - made the skeleton's
reconstruction. When the whole exhibit already stood in the hall of museum, it have being
clarified, that the scientists have named mammoth female as Mathilda. Nobody remembers
when and how it was happened, but the name was pleasant and lived. Everyone names this
exhibit so up to now.
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