Mexican anthropologists say they have found two human-built pits dug 15,000 years ago to trap mammoths.

Researchers from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History said Wednesday the pits were found during excavations on land that was to be used as a garbage dump.

The pits, filled with bones from at least 14 mammoths, were found in the neighborhood of Tultepec, just north of Mexico City. Some of the animals were apparently butchered.

Mexican anthropologists say they have found two human-built pits dug 15,000 years ago to trap mammoths

Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology (INAH) photograph shows mammoth tusks in Tultepec, Mexico

An expert working on mammoth bones in Tultepec, Mexico, where the bones of at least 14 mammoths, who would have lived more than 14,000 years ago, were found in what is believed to be the first find of a mammoth trap set by humans

Researchers from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History said Wednesday the pits were found during excavations on land that was to be used as a garbage dump

The pits were about six feet deep and 25 yards in diameter. The institute said hunters may have chased mammoths into the traps

Remains of two other species that disappeared in the Americas – a horse and a camel – were also found

The pits were about six feet deep and 25 yards in diameter. The institute said hunters may have chased mammoths into the traps.

Remains of two other species that disappeared in the Americas – a horse and a camel – were also found.

It was unclear if plans for the dump would proceed.