Small Mammoth Tooth

Monday, August 20, 2012

Dave returned to the site, meeting volunteers Jim Roberson (Muscatine) and Rich Sawyer (Oskaloosa) at 9 AM with the goal of further excavating and extracting the tree stump uncovered near the end of the previous day along with the unidentified bones/fragments uncovered nearby.  Farmer John joined the team.  After a couple of hours of digging it became clear the bone was a large portion of an upper jaw.  This was confirmed when an associated mammoth tooth was uncovered just before lunch. A toe bone was found inches away.  Dave took close-up photos of the tooth to expedite identification of the species.  These were sent to Dr. Chris Widga, Illinois State Museum, that evening. The tooth was unusually small--approximately half the length of an adult tooth, sparking conjecture that the jaw/tooth might belong to a juvenile.  The jaw is resting approximately 5 ft. from the east line of Frank Weirich's first GPR grid and thirteen ft. south of the NE corner (see photos). It may show up on the grid he ran on the shelf Farmer John cleared, but the flags from that grid have been disturbed and it's impossible to say where it falls without consulting Frank's notes and or the GPS map.

The tree, maxillary and toe are buried in a large block of "smurfic" blue clay that slopes upward to the west, away from the Discovery Pit. A layer of silt that ranges from approximately one ft. pit-side to just a few inches westward covers the clay.  The tree grew on top of this silt.  The roots follow the top of the clay for the most part but penetrate it in places. The tree is a cloning species and suckers where uncovered in several places nearby.   A local resident who stopped by offered the observation that the stump looks like that of an Osage orange tree, renowned for its durability and rot-resistance. 

Sarah arrived after lunch to reinforce the excavation team.  A Des Moines CBS affiliated television crew, responding to the Oskaloosa Herald story published that morning about the discovery of mammoth #2, called late in the afternoon and asked to come to film site activities.  Permission was granted by Farmer John and Sarah was interviewed.  The reporter had also called Jim North who came to the site.   The diggers departed about 7:30 PM leaving the tree stump, jaw/tooth and toe in the ground for recovery the next day.