The state Geological Survey is continuing its work on a site in Burke County, west of Powers Lake, on private property, to unearth remains of a mammoth.
"A mammoth specimen was discovered in 1988, when a garage was being added and attacked to a house," said State Geologist Clint Boyd. "When they were digging the footings, they ran into mammoth bones."
Boyd said at the time of that discovery, there was no time to follow up on it, and get the whole specimen out.
"Everything they found was put back in, along the footings, and then reburied," Boyd said.
Then, in 2024, Boyd said the Survey returned to the site, and the new landowner was excited about following up.
"We got in there, and started to see what we could find," Boyd said. "Turns out, there was quite a specimen there."
Boyd said there is also a stream channel outside of the garage, with the potential for more bones. And he said says they’re almost done with the garage.
"We can still continue to explore to the north and to the east of the garage, in that stream channel, to see how far spread out that skeleton is," Boyd said.
Boyd said this setting for a fossil dig has been interesting.
"Normally, when you're thinking about digging up fossils, you have a big excavation and a big quarry," Boyd said. "In this case, when we were outside the garage, we were sitting in someone's yard, and digging three feet down in the ground, and pulling up mammoth bones. And it's even more surreal when you're working inside the garage."
Boyd said normally, they would have had to worry about weather.
"But we had times where it was storming like crazy outside, and we're just sitting in this garage with lights overhead and digging the fossils out. It's been a very unique experience."
Boyd said the landowners were very excited about the project – and even found a bone.
"It's always great when you can work with people and not just tell them about the significance of the fossils," Boyd said. "But they get to experience it themselves, and learn the excitement of finding these finds."
