CWU Mammoth Dig On The History Channel

March 6, 2008

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Footage from Central Washington University's Wenas Creek Mammoth Project Summer Field School will be featured on the History Channel in "Journey to 10,000 B.C." The documentary, which premieres Sunday, March 9, 2008, at 8 p.m., focuses on what life on earth was like in prehistoric times. The feature spotlights a time when humans were first beginning to inhabit North America and creatures like the woolly mammoth were becoming extinct.

An East Coast film crew from Limulus Productions traveled to various early archaeological sites all across North America to shoot footage for the documentary. They spent three days last summer at the excavation site of Central's Wenas Creek Mammoth Project located in Wenas Creek Valley near Selah, Wash., recording the dig as it happened.

By combining footage from the many dig sites with animation, the film crew was able to bring the history of the area to life and recreate the past. "We're painting a picture of what life was really like around 10,000 B.C.," said David Padrusch, Limulus Productions and "Journey to 10,000 B.C." director/producer. "The bones here look like they're in pretty good condition."

The continued success of Central's Field School and the notoriety it's received around the world is what led Padrusch to Central. Faculty and students come from across the nation each summer to take part in the experience. The field school began in 2005 after a construction crew working on a driveway found what's believed to be a 16,000-year old upper arm (humerus) bone of a mammoth. Over the past there years, participants have found hundreds of bone fragments including pieces of mammoth vertebrae, scapula, rib, foot and toe bones, as well as what's believed to be a bison bone in the middle of the mammoth bones. Excavators also found a human artifact, a flake from a stone tool, which if linked to the bones would predate when humans first arrived in the Pacific Northwest by a few thousand years.

"For Central's Wenas Creek Mammoth Field School, the opportunity to be included in a documentary of this caliber is priceless," explains Jake Shapley, CWU graduate student and Wenas Creek Mammoth Project coordinator. "It's great to get this kind of exposure for the program."

Participants in Central's interdisciplinary Wenas Creek Mammoth Project use methods from paleontology, archaeology and geography to recover and research bones and associated artifacts. Currently taking applications for the 2008 excavation, the field school is open to anyone eligible for college credits, including selected high school students and members of the general public. Along with the field school, the summer excavation project provides opportunities for tours, presentations and volunteer work. For information and application materials, visit www.cwu.edu/~masters/mammoth.html.

Media Contact: Jacob Shapley, CWU Wenas Creek Mammoth Project coordinator, 509-963-2654, shapleyj@cwu.edu
Teri Olin, CWU Public Relations & Marketing, 509-963-1416, olint@cwu.edu

Central Washington University is a master's degree-granting institution with approximately 10,000 students and 1,500 faculty and staff. More than 160 undergraduate and master's degrees are offered. Founded in 1891, the Ellensburg campus is located in the heart of Washington State, nestled between the Cascade Mountains and the Columbia River. Since 1975, CWU has served the needs of place bound students at six university centers throughout the state. CWU is an AA/EEO Title IX Institution.