CWU Researchers Investigate Mammoth Find

May 8, 2005

Contact: Jake Shapley (509-899-1503/Fax: 509-963-1047/E-mail: shapleyj@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Isolated mammoth bone finds are common in Central and Eastern Washington. Typically, the remains are pieces that have been dug up from their original locations, which severely hamper scientific investigation. With the February mammoth discovery in the Wenas area near Selah, there is hope that may soon change.

Central Washington University and Mayo Ranches have signed an agreement allowing excavation to begin at the site.

"The ground was frozen, so we had taken a backhoe and pulled down some of the frozen chunks," Gary Fife, the contractor working on a private road who made the discovery, recalls. "I happened to notice a bone sticking out of one of those chunks of frozen dirt."

The landowner, Doug Mayo, brought the discovery to the attention of the CWU department of geography and land studies.

"The university and I are extremely enthused, interested and excited about the opportunity for both the scientific and educational aspects (of the discovery)," Mayo adds.

Dr. Patrick Lubinski, CWU anthropology professor and an archaeologist specializing in "zooarchaeology," which is the identification and study of animal bones found at archaeological sites, was subsequently called in to examine the bones, which he tentatively identified as a mammoth.

Further research was performed with the assistance of Bax R. Barton, of the Quaternary Research Center, and Ronald Eng, of the Burke Museum at the University of Washington.

The bone fragments were pieced together into about half of a mammoth's left humerus, the upper arm bone. The actual species, sex and age of the mammoth have not yet been determined.

"It's a pretty good match for a mammoth, probably a Columbian mammoth," Lubinski says. "But we have to be careful not to assume that. There is a chance it could be something else, some other species in the elephant family that we haven't found in Washington before. We won't know that until we get either more measurements or more of the bone."

A specialist in the study of Pacific Northwest ice age mammals, Barton adds, "two large elephants, the Columbian and Imperial mammoths, and the American mastodon are known to have existed during the mid-to-late Pleistocene era (1.2 million to 10,000 years ago) in Washington. A related species, the Woolly mammoth, has not yet been found in the state."

CWU faculty and students will carry out a comprehensive, scientific analysis of the site with the assistance of experts from the University of Washington and elsewhere. The goals of this project are to learn more about mammoths and the environment in which they lived.

Although it's not known how much of the skeleton is there, several bones may be on site. Depending on how much is still in the ground, this project has the potential to contribute to a variety of areas of scientific research over the next several years.

"If there is more out there, especially if there is a significant amount, then it will have much broader impact and certainly be relevant to the Northwest," Lubinski adds. "If we end with an entire articulated skeleton in really good shape -- that we can date and learn other information about the plants and animals in the area -- then it can be internationally significant."

Radiocarbon dating is planned for some of the fragments that have already been recovered.