Archaeologists in Germany have uncovered the remains of an enormous elephant dating back around 300,000 years.

The almost-complete skeleton was discovered by experts from the University of Tubingen in Schöningen. Jordi Serangeli, head of the excavation, said: “We found both 2.3-metre-long tusks, the complete lower jaw, numerous vertebrae and ribs as well as large bones belonging to three of the legs and even all five delicate hyoid bones.”

The elephant was an older female with worn teeth, according to archaeologist Ivo Verheijen. He explained: “The animal had a shoulder height of about 3.2 metres and weighed about 6.8 tonnes – it was therefore larger than today’s African elephant cows.”

According to Mr Verheijen, the elephant probably died of old age and not as a result of hunting.

Archaeologists previously uncovered three sabre-toothed cats skeletons and a 300,000-year-old hunting spear at the same site.

The elephant skeleton seems to have been kept so well-preserved since the Middle Palaeolithic era because of the water-saturated sediment it was covered in.

This type of elephant once roamed across Europe and Western Asia, during the Middle and Late Pleistocene (781,000–30,000 years before present).

Archaeologists previously uncovered three sabre-toothed cats skeletons and a 300,000-year-old hunting spear at the same site.

The elephant skeleton seems to have been kept so well-preserved since the Middle Palaeolithic era because of the water-saturated sediment it was covered in. Head of the excavation, Jordi Serangeli, said: “The Stone Age hunters probably cut meat, tendons and fat from the carcass.

“We do not seek to rule out that extremely dangerous elephant hunts may have taken place, but the evidence often leaves us in some doubt.”