‘Tom Bones’ unveiled as the winning name for National Museum Cardiff’s Mammoth
After a week of voting where over 18,000 people visited the Museum to cast their vote the winning name has now been confirmed
EMBARGO: 00:01 Wednesday 12 November
It’s not unusual to visit a museum and find yourself standing in the middle of the main hall wanting to take a photo with a prehistoric creature. For the last eight months thousands of people have done exactly that at National Museum Cardiff, and now finally those who have smiled with the Mammoth can call him by his name…Tom Bones.
Mammoths like the one Tom is based on, once lived and grazed the green green grass of home and, despite being found across the border in Shropshire, Tom Bones has done exactly what Sir Tom Jones sang about in 1967 by declaring I’m coming home and settling for a place in National Museum Cardiff.
During the naming process, the Museum received over 1400 suggestions. The two other shortlisted names - Macsen and Morus - also proved popular with voters during half term, but were ultimately pipped to the post by the winning name, Tom Bones.
Notable entries suggested by the public that didn’t make the final three included: Bendigeidfran, Merlin the Mammoth, Tusks, BFM (Big Friendly Mammoth), Sir Tusk-A-lot and – of course - Mammoth McMammoth Face.
Mared Maggs, Head of National Museum Cardiff said:
“We are delighted to finally be able to give our newest resident a name. It was hard whittling the entries down to three, but I’m delighted our campaign managed to capture public imagination and the name was ultimately chosen by our visitors. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who submitted suggestions and visited the museum during half term to cast their votes.
“While Tom is part of the National Museum Cardiff family, he truly feels like a friend to us all. We’re excited to welcome as many of you as possible to have your photo taken with our new icon, Tom Bones.”
So, if it’s cold outside this winter why not pop into National Museum Cardiff and have your photo taken with Wales’s boniest celebrity.
Amgueddfa Cymru’s exhibitions and public engagements programme is made possible thanks to players of the People’s Postcode Lottery. Alongside the mammoth, this includes exhibitions currently running at National Museum Cardiff including Hip Hop: A Welsh Story.
ENDS
Notes to editors
- Mammoths lived alongside humans (Homo sapiens and Neanderthals), and humans hunted them to eat and provide skins and fur for clothing, huts, etc.
- In Britain, mammoths lived alongside woolly rhinos, giant deer, hyenas, cave bear and horses.
- Woolly mammoths were one of several different mammoths that existed in the past, with a different species living in North America.
- Woolly mammoths reached up to 3.5m height at the shoulder.
- Woolly mammoth tusks had a slight spiral as well as being curved.
- Woolly mammoths had to eat up to 180kg of plant food daily, foraging for up to 20 hours a day.
- The mammoth was made by 3D scanning the twin of our skeleton that is on display at the Discovery Centre in Craven Arms, Shropshire.
- The bones and tusks were then 3D printed and painted to look like bone.
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