Liquefied Matrix, Palate # 2 Removed

Thursday, Aug 30, 2012

Dave returned to the site at 8 AM meeting Jim Roberson and sloth/mammoth veteran Pete Eyheralde.  They were shortly joined by five staff members from the Clinton County Conservation Board (CCCB).  The pit was full of hundreds of gallons of water however a combination of pumping and hand bailing soon emptied it. Once again the bottom of the pit had "liquefied" under the water and a large amount of sloppy muck covered the bottom of the pit.  Farmer John had to return the portable generator at the end of the day so we need to find another solution to the pumping challenge before we go out again. The ICNC sump pump is still at the farm.

The team extracted the remaining ribs discovered last Friday. One "rib" turned out to be a portion of a shoulder blade bearing the spine.   A small fragment of bone was found bearing clear signs of a green fracture, also some wood in the area of the tusk.

In the process of clearing the muck from the pit, diggers uncovered another complete rib and a large rib piece west of the tree location. The fragment rests about 1-1/2 ft. from the wall and 6 in. lower than another rib fragment which was later discovered protruding from the wall directly west.  It was determined that the two ends match and the remainder of the rib was left embedded in the wall for future recovery. Three feet south of the scapula (spine) fragment and two feet higher in blue clay, a digger found a complete foot bone tentatively identified as a left cuneiform.

The Clinton CCB gang had to depart at 12:30PM. They were replaced after lunch by two representatives of the Mahaska CCB in the form of Director Dave Sedivec and Administrative Assistant Jenny Snyder.  Pete and Jenny applied a plaster bandage to upper jaw/tooth #2 and, while they waited for it to dry, they prepared to excavate the ribs found that morning. With the bottom of the pit "liquefying" every night, the team was concerned about leaving them in what was already a very mucky location.  In the process they encountered several large bones protruding from the south corner of the pit.  These were partially excavated as time allowed and included a small piece of tusk/ivory, a couple of portions of ribs and a massive triangular limb bone which upon inspection proved to be split in half lengthwise, with a large fragment of the same bone sitting nearby.  As darkness approached, the other portion had to be left in the ground for future recovery. With many hands helping, the diggers carried maxilla #2 up from the pit and transported it back up to the farm where it was loaded into the back of Dave's car along with maxilla #1 which had been stored in John's pole barn for transport back to Iowa City.  The team departed the site at approximately 8 PM.