Located near Hot Springs, SD, Mammoth Site is the world's largest mammoth research facility.
This was the site of a 60-foot deep sinkhole 26000 years ago. The mammoths were attracted by the warm spring, slipped in, and couldn't get back out.
The site was discovered fairly recently - in 1974.
Sixty mammoths have been found here in this tiny area!
We had a short tour where the guide used the kids to demonstrate the size of the bones. This is a femur - upper leg bone.
And this is a jaw bone! Of course these are replicas, so I guess they weren't very heavy...
There was a nice museum, in the same building as the dig site. It was definitely worth the visit. It reminded me of the Ashfall Fossil Beds, which I visited in 2010, but their site was 12 MILLION years old. That post is
here.
THE END!
Just read on this post that you visited Ashfall....I live just a few miles to the west of there on Hwy 20. Must not have been reading your blog back in 2010. Hope you enjoyed my part of the country.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really interesting place - I need to put it "on my list."
ReplyDeleteI hope you and Phil are having fun!
Excellent and interesting post. Thank You!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting!
ReplyDeleteI may be in SD this summer, so especially enjoying your posts from there now.
ReplyDeleteAnd here I was expecting to see the greatest, largest RV pull through known to mankind! ;c)
ReplyDeleteLooks like a fascinating museum. I've been interested in mammoths since watching the documentary on the excavation of a relatively intact one in Siberia many years ago.
ReplyDeleteAh, the poor Mammoths! That does look like an interesting place.
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