The Mammoth Alliance
(Click on photos for larger view.)
 Walking along the edge of the wash, Rick Oyler, a
Rangeland Management Health Specialist from Escalante, Utah, knew that the bone he could
see in the side of the wash didn’t belong to a cow. And according to several excited
paleontologists who visited the site, it belonged to a Columbian Mammoth. This exciting
find is important because it establishes that mammoth once lived in southern Utah on what
is now the Skutumpah Terrace in Kane County.
 The excitement of the discovery brought the BLM, the Museum of Northern
Arizona, and the Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy together for the excavation. They
are hoping to find some indications that humans might have been in the area at the same
time. Radio carbon testing places the animal there around 9,500 BC, which could bring it
within the period when there may have been some interaction with man.
 McFadden, the lead archeologist on the
excavation, is conducting the dig in such a way that if there is some sign that human
beings were associated with the animal he will be able to recognize the evidence to attest
to that fact. McFadden is hoping to determine if this is a "kill" or a
butchering site, both of which would be associated with man. Several large bags of soil
have been taken to the laboratory in Flagstaff to process and determine if there are tiny
flakes of rock, tools, that would be proof of man’s participation in the
mammoth’s death.
 Excavation of the site is being done
cooperatively with the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. David Gillette, a
paleontologist who is the Culbert Curator of Paleontology at the museum, is hoping for a
lot of information from the few bones that have been excavated. A piece of what is
believed to be part of a femur, and some rib bones have been removed and taken to
Flagstaff to be stabilized with chemicals. Gillette thinks the bones are well preserved
for being over 11,000 years old, but require support by way of plaster casts before they
can be taken from the site. In the lab the plaster will be removed and the bones glued
together and some determinations made. There might be marks of primitive tools on the
bones, or maybe just the tooth marks of predators.
 Gillette believes that the present vegetation is similar to what was here in
9,500 BC. He believes there were conifers and grasses, and probably a good water source.
Mammoth remains are most often found in areas covered by grasslands during the last ice
age. There were also saber tooth tigers, ground sloths (11,000 years ago), musk ox,
camels, horses, tapirs, and lions. Gillette is hoping there might be signs of these within
the excavation.
BLM’s Kanab Field Manager Verlin Smith said it’s
too soon to tell if the mammoth may have just died there and most of the skeleton washed
downstream, or whether there is more of the skeleton to find. Only a tiny part has been
uncovered, so there may be more to come.
Students from the Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy came
to help with the excavation and preparation of the bones for shipment. They were excited
about the project, however, the weather became a factor. There were only five hours a day
at the site when the sun shone directly into the arroyo, before and after that time it was
too cold to work. The group was tent camping, and sometimes were pretty miserable, so the
work has been terminated until spring.
The site has been covered and will be closely monitored
throughout the next few months. Work will resume in April when the soil dries out and the
weather is warmer. Then the BLM, MNA, and the Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy will
again join hands and trowels to uncover the secrets of the Mammoth. |
Environmental Education