An international team of archaeologists and paleontologists has announced the discovery of physical evidence unique in Europe: an elephant bone dated to the Second Punic War (218–201 BC). The find, a small but revealing bone fragment, was made during an emergency excavation at the Colina de los Quemados site in Córdoba (Spain), identified with the ancient Iberian city of Corduba.The artifacts in the same stratum confirm the likelihood that the elephant was one of those used by the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War.[...]
On an unrelated note, this is perhaps of interest:
Given the exceptional nature of the find, an attempt was made to obtain an absolute date through radiocarbon analysis. Although the collagen in the bone had not been sufficiently preserved, scientists dated the mineral fraction (bioapatite). The result placed the sample between the late 4th century and the 3rd century BC, a range that, although slightly broader and earlier than expected, is consistent with the period of the Second Punic War.Compare this range with the new C-14 dating range for 4QDanc of 230-160 BCE, with a composition date for the Book of Daniel of c. 165. The fighting in Spain in the Second Punic War occurred between 219 BCE (the siege of Saguntum) and 206 BCE (the Battle of Ilipa), so the early end of the C14 date range is about a century too early. The early end of the new C-14 date range for 4QDanc is only about 60-70 years too early.
So it is fair to say that this dating has "a range that, although slightly broader and earlier than expected, is consistent with the period of the" composition of Daniel. If we accept this range as pretty firm (2-sigma = 95%), 4QDanc is quite an early copy of Daniel. But the book easily could have been circulating widely in Palestine within a few years or less of its composition.
More on the redating of 4QDanc, and the associated Enoch AI dating tool, is here and links.
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