Mammoth

The Wenas Creek Mammoth Project was a Central Washington University (CWU) scientific investigation of mammoth bones found on private land in the Wenas Creek Valley near Selah, Washington. The investigation was interdisciplinary, using methods from paleontology, archaeology, geography, and other fields. The goal of the project was careful scientific recovery and analysis of bones and associated artifacts, while placing the finds into context.

This site was excavated from 2005-2010. The dig was closed to allow analysis of six seasons of materials, and also because we have an ethical obligation to leave part of the site undisturbed for future work. After all, methods and technology will no doubt continue to improve as the years go by, and much more may be learned from this site in the future.

Laboratory work on site materials involved cleaning and identifying bones, looking for bone fragment refits, examining bone surfaces for toothmarks or other damage, photography, mapmaking, submission of samples for dating, genetic analysis, pollen analysis, etc.,  This work took many years, but much was completed by 2022.

Scientific articles reporting on the mammoth and bison bones, artifacts, and vegetation were published in 2007, 2009, 2014, 2016, 2024, and 2026 (see below). Public visits were hosted during the dig, and more than 40 public presentations were provided from 2005-2022. With completion of scientific publications, the project is largely concluded.

Please see the links at left for additional information about the project. You can see high quality replicas of some of the bones at the CWU Museum of Culture & Environment in Dean Hall in Ellensburg.  Activities at the site and other opportunities are available from outside CWU with the Wenas Mammoth Foundation.

Scientific articles include:

Mammoth and Bison Bones:

Lubinski, P.M. (2024) The 17,000-cal yr BP Wenas Creek Site in Washington State: Bone Taphonomy and Mammoth Paleontology.  PaleoAmerica 10(4):321-335.

Lubinski, P.M. (2016) Bison Remains from ~14,000 14C yr BP at the Wenas Creek Mammoth Site in Washington State.  PaleoAmerica 2(3):277-280.

Artifacts:

Lubinski, P.M., K. Terry, and P.T. McCutcheon (2014) Comparative Methods for Distinguishing Flakes from Geofacts: A Case Study from the Wenas Creek Mammoth Site.  Journal of Archaeological Science 52:308-320. 

Lubinski, P.M., J. Feathers, and K. Lillquist (2014) Single-Grain Luminescence Dating of Sediment Surrounding a Possible Late Pleistocene Artifact from the Wenas Creek Mammoth Site, Pacific Northwest, USA.  Geoarchaeology 29:16-32.

Lubinski, P.M., P.T. McCutcheon, K. Lillquist, M. Uebelacker, B.R. Barton, and J.T. Shapley (2009) Possible Lithic Artifacts from 2005-07 Excavations at the Wenas Creek Mammoth Site.  Current Research in the Pleistocene 26:85-86.

Vegetation Reconstruction:

Walsh, M.K., P.M. Lubinski, L.S. Cummings, and M.M. Emmery-Wetherell (2026) Late Glacial to Early Holocene Vegetation Reconstruction from the Wenas Creek Mammoth Site in Washington State. PaleoAmerica