CHERSKY Prehistoric bones are not hard to find in the northernmost reaches of Siberia. The permafrost is thawing so rapidly that in some places in the tundra, the bones of lions, mammoths and woolly rhinos poke out through the soil every few metres. The storage room of the Ice Age Museum in Moscow, above, where Alexander Svalov holds a mammoth bone, is packed with examples.

The company that runs the museum holds government licences allowing it to excavate and export prehistoric relics. Private collectors and scientific institutes – from the United States to South Korea – will pay huge sums for the right specimen.

A well-preserved tusk, Mr Svalov says, can sell to private collectors for up to $20,000 (£10,000), while a reconstructed mammoth skeleton can fetch between $150,000 and $250,000.

Bone prospectors such as Alexander Vatagin have turned this region of Siberia, eight time zones from Moscow, into a palaeontological Klondyke. “Last year someone was paid 800,000 roubles (£16,000) for a mammoth head with two tusks,” he said. He employs fishermen and reindeer herders from the tiny Yukagir ethnic group, whose keen eyes and local knowledge help them to find the best artefacts. (Reuters)

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