One of the most notable military campaigns of all time is the crossing of the Alps by Hannibal more than 2,200 years ago . The bluff Carthaginian general led infantry , cavalry , and 37 elephants across the Italian mountains to confront off against the Romans . And now , thanks to science , we know which way he select to cross .
An international team of researchers has discovered a mass beast deposit located near the Col de la Traversette , a pass about 3,000 meter ( 9,840 foot ) above the ocean level . The scientist were capable to date stamp the deposition to 218 BCE thanks to an environmental analysis of the land .
The squad has studied this area since 2011 as a potential place where the Punic U. S. Army might have rested . The expanse is plentiful in botany that could have been used for the gymnastic horse and mules , and it is one of the several potential routes the general might have taken .
Deep in the ground , the researcher found that there was a mixture of works fiber , mud , and finer grained grunge . The finding , report in the journalArchaeometry , advise that the soil had been significantly disturbed and then it was compact . No other alpine bog has such a soil , and this can not be explained by grazing kine or conditions phenomenon .
" The deposition lie within a churned - up quite a little from a 1 - cadence [ 3.3 - feet ] stocky alluvial mire , produced by the constant apparent movement of M of brute and humans , ” Dr. Chris Allen from Queen ’s University Belfast say in astatement .
“ Over 70 pct of the microbe in horse manure are from a group fuck as the Clostridia , that are very stable in grunge – surviving for thousands of year . We found scientifically significant evidence of these same bugs in a genetic microbic signature precisely date to the time of the Punic invasion . ”
Hannibal ’s filiation into Italy was one of the major events of theSecond Punic War , which was finally get ahead by the Romans in 201 BCE .
The route through Col de la Traversette ( a bare map is uncommitted onThe Telegraph ) was first proposed by Sir Gavin de Beer in 1974 , but had not previously been wide accepted by the academic community due to a deficiency of concrete evidence .
