A Michigan Farmer Digging In A Soy Field Discovers Woolly Mammoth Bones
October 2, 2015
A farmer in Chelsea, Michigan, made a startling discovery Monday night: bones of a woolly mammoth possibly butchered by early human hunters thousands of years ago.
Photo: Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News
James Bristle and a friend were digging in a soy field to create a lift station for a new natural gas line when they came up with something very out of the ordinary.
Photo: Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News
"We knew it was something that was out of the norm," Bristle said. "My grandson came over to look at it, he's 5-years-old, he was speechless."
Photo: Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News
In the end, it turned out to be part of an extinct creature that roamed these fields thousands of years ago.
Photo: Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News
University of Michigan Professor Dan Fisher came out Wednesday night and by Thursday morning confirmed it was a woolly mammoth from the teeth that were found.
Photo: Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News
Paleontologists from the University of Michigan spent the day digging up the skull and an enormous tusk, along with many other, smaller remains.
Photo: Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News
Fisher said the woolly mammoth was probably 40 years old, lived between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago and was hunted by humans who probably killed it, butchered it and stashed it in a pond.
Photo: Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News
"It turns out we are dealing with carcass parts of animals, in some cases hunted, in other cases maybe not, but in any event, butchered by ancient humans, what we call Paleo-Indians; people who lived in North America about 12 – 13,000 years ago," Fisher said.
Photo: Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News
Extinct for a minimum of 10,000 years, the woolly mammoth lived during the Pleistocene epoch, and was one of the last in a line of mammoth species. Boasting enormous tusks and looking a bit like a furry version of the modern-day elephant, the woolly mammoth did co-exist alongside humans for a time, scientists say.
Click Here For The Most Popular On Sunny Skyz
Football Player Asks Friend With Down Syndrome To Homecoming
Man Digging A Duck Pond Uncovers Mysterious Underground Tunnel Made Of Seashells
Hope And Hard Work: Jail Resident Makes History In Clarke County
Chief Of Police Pens Hilarious Letter To Criminals, Suggests Netflix Or Baking
Stranger’s Note Turns A Mother’s Stressful Day Into One She’ll Never Forget
Money Really Does Grow On Trees! Cafés In Ukraine Let Kids 'Buy' Drinks With Leaves They Collected
Mom And Daughter Rock Out In The Car - The Baby’s Reaction Is Priceless!
He Drove Past A Giant Pile Of Leaves, Then Noticed Eyes Staring Back
Bicyclists Come Face-To-Face With Mountain Lion In Terrifying Trail Encounter
Kids At Daycare Take Turns Jumping In A Mud Puddle — And It’s Pure Joy
Angels Walk Among Us: He Needed The Hug More Than The Food
