In my opinion, nobody can write a more informative, useful, and interesting account of the discovery of the mammoth on the Berezovka River, eastern Siberia, in 1900, and its excavation the following year, than Otto Ferdinandovich Herz himself. I hope readers will appreciate the inclusion in this book of an old report by O. F. Herz (1902). I am sure this will be a novel illustration for students and scientists of how a paleontological expedition to recover a frozen carcass was organised at the turn of the nineteenth/twentieth century. This unique historical document contains a huge amount of useful and important information – and perhaps it could even some day form the basis of a fascinating popular science film.

The text that follows is a full copy of Herz's report, translated by V. Ukraintseva.