When you purchase through links on our situation , we may earn an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it works .
Researchers have excavate a well - maintain , around 13,600 - year - old mastodon skull from a creek in Iowa — the first ever found in the state .
The discovery comes two eld after resident of Wayne County , in the Confederate States of America of the state , reported find an passing recollective osseous tissue protruding from the creek . At the clip , archaeologists examine the pearl and name it as a mastodon femoris . This spike their interest and led them to further excavate the site in the hopes of discovering more of the beast .
An archaeologist from the University of Iowa carefully excavates the mastodon skull.
Now , scientists have revealed the site holds a huge skull with a tusk still attached and other clappers likely belonging to the same prehistorical animal . investigator are still working to square off if the mastodont died at the hands of humans , or if world interfered in any way with the carcase .
" We ’re really hoping to find evidence of human interaction with this creature — perhaps the projectile point and knives that were used to kill the brute and do initial butchering,“John Doershuk , director and state archaeologist at the University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist who take part in the excavations , say in astatement .
Related : immense gigantic tusk light upon sticking out of Mississippi streambed
Altogether, archaeologists found about 20 bone fragments, which they think all belong to the same mastodon.
American mastodons ( Mammut americanum ) were expectant , now - nonextant mammals have-to doe with to elephant and mammoths . They were far-flung across North America from what is now Alaska to central Mexico between 3.5 million and 13,000 years ago . They went out short before the destruction of the last ice age around 11,700 yr ago as a resultant of the warming climate and human predation , according to theSan Diego Natural History Museum . Mastodons were smaller than woolly mammoths ( Mammuthus primigenius ) , weighing around 6 tons ( 5.5 metric tons ) .
Researchers used radiocarbon dating to pinpoint the long time of the mastodon skull . Their results designate that the animal lived at the same clock time assome of the first Americanswho occupied the area , raising the opening that the beast may have interacted with world .
— Siberian Au miners circumstantially find ancient woolly rhino mummy with automobile horn and soft tissues still intact
— vast , complete gigantic tusk by chance discovered by North Dakota ember miners
— ' Archaeological sensation ' : Winemaker discovers century of mammoth castanets while repair his root cellar
The researchers discovered human - made artifacts at the creek web site that bolster this hypothesis , include endocarp tools , accord to the statement . Although the instrument are a few thousand year younger than the mastodon skull , the discovery confirm for the first sentence that humans occupied the creek .
" There ’s also potential evidence on the bones themselves , " Doershuk state , adding that " there could be identifiable track marks . "
Further research is afoot to determine whether mankind might have deposit the mastodon bones in this creek . archaeologist will then give the remains to the Prairie Trails Museum in Corydon , Iowa , for a fresh exhibit , according to the program line .
