The site holds “excellent evidence of human activity” associated with the mammoth remains, he said.
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According to Bristle, he found the bones of a woolly mammoth on Monday when he and his friend were digging in a field. He went on to explain that over the years they have recovered about 300 mastodons in comparison to only 30 mammoths.
Professor Daniel Fisher, director and curator at its Museum of Paleontology, told CBS he knew exactly what it was when he saw the bones. “We get one or two calls like this a year, but majority are mastodons”, Prof Fisher said. Abrasions have already been spotted on the skull that could have been the result of a fight with another mammoth, and fractures or cuts on bones could indicate that the creature was hunted and butchered by ancient humans. He together with other investigators bared the cranium plus a vast tusk out of your field.
Evidence supporting that idea includes three basketball-sized boulders recovered next to the mammoth remains. Depending on the age of the Lima Township mammoth and confirmation of the suspected links to human hunters or scavengers, this week’s find could help push back the date for human habitation in what is now Southeast Michigan.
What it actually ended up being, was part of a woolly mammoth’s pelvis from about 15,000 years ago. Since then, Bristle has become something of a celebrity, as hundreds of people have flocked to see the prehistoric relics.
Scientists from the University of Michigan and an excavator recovered about 20 percent of the animal’s skeleton last week in Lima Township. “He was in awe”, Bristle said. They’ve been driving into Chelsea, the closest town, and asking for directions. Professor Fisher went on to describe how he recognised the animal remains and said: “I think we have a mammoth here”.
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Video footage showed the bones being recovered in a 10ft-deep pit by a team from the university.
