Scientists are excited about an unusual discovery of mammoth bones of a nearly complete skeleton found buried in a rural Oskaloosa farm. The rare finding, which was found about 60 miles southwest of Des Moines, was largely undisturbed and will help scientists to find clues about the prehistoric life in the area when the animal died.
"A find of this size is quite rare because it looks like we have a lot of the animal rather than just a single bone here and there," said Sarah Horgen, education coordinator for the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History.
The archaeologist group has announced its plans to dig the area more with ground penetrating radar starting this Friday and will continue the excavation throughout the summer. Meanwhile, the group has already collected pollen grains, a pine needle, seeds and other plant material from the site, reports AZCentral.
The mammoth bones were first discovered two years ago by an Iowa family in their backyard.
"I got down on my hands and knees on the bank and I could see a marrow line around the edge of this and I said boys, that's a bone, that's a really big bone," the landowner and discoverer of the bones, who now wants to remain anonymous to protect the site, told ABC 5.
The family at first did not reveal the discovery, but then decided to take help from archaeologists to dig the rest of the mammoth skeleton.
