Caves and fossils are numerous in this area. Since the ocean extended this far several times, and the vast plains of grass attracted lots of animals, their presence is recorded in the ground. Limestone from the water melts when more water covers it up forming lots of caves. Here are some pictures of what is to be found.
When I was in 4th grade, I decided I would be a archeologist. I really enjoyed The Mammoth Site! It was a sink hole formed by a collapsing cave about 11 - 13,000 years ago. It trapped lots of Mammoths and other animals. Discovered in 1974, they have to date found 52 Mammoths and lots of other species as well. The bones shown in the next several pictures are the real thing, left where they were discovered until they have to be moved for further digging. Most of the work is done by volunteers. If interested call Earthwatch at 800-776-0188 or www.earthwatch.org. They dig for 4 weeks in July and spend the rest of the year sorting and cataloguing what they find!
At least 2 of the Skeletons have been named. The one above is a headless Mammoth, so was called Marie Antoinette, till it was found to be a boy, so "Murry Antoinette" it is!
The skeleton to the left is the most complete found to date. His name is "Napolean Bone-a-part"
49 of the 53 Mammoths found so far are Columbian Mammoths. The other 3 are Wooly Mammoths. Columbians are much larger, in fact an African Elephant could walk under the chin of a Columbian! Every one of the specimans trapped in the sink hole so far is a male.
Replica of 2 Bull Mammoth skulls who died after locking their horns in battle. These skulls were found in the badlands of Nebraska.
Bones of this creature were also found in the hole. Probably trapped when trying to feed on Mammoth. It is a Giant Short-faced Bear. 5 1/2 feet at the shoulder, when standing he could look in a 2nd story window today! Very large and extremely fast, large groups of humans were probably his only threat.
