Denver Museum of Nature & Science

• Scientists Add Camel to List of Ice Age Animals
• Museum Crews to Return in May
• Museum Unveils Mastodon Specimens at the Capitol
• The Paleontology Certification Program
• Crews Pull More Than 100 Bones From Dig Site
• Ice Age Site Yields Five Mastodon Pelvises, Plus Two Tusks, Two Skulls
• Bone Count Reaches 546 at Ice Age Dig Site
• Museum Uncovers Mastodons of all Ages
• Today marks halfway point in seven-week dig
• National Geographic Follows Ice Age Dig
• Team Finds Evidence of Ice Age Horse
• Museum Finds Record Number of Fossils at Ice Age Site
• 27 Experts Dig into Science, Bone Count Tops 4,000
• Ice Age Site Yields 4,517 Bones from 20 Different Animals
• Museum Concludes Ice Age Fossil Excavation
• Science Updates and Landscape Paintings of the Dig Site
• Giant Bison on Display
• National Geographic and NOVA feature Ice Age fossil find in early 2012
• Museum Announces Plans for Digging Snowmastodon Book
• Snowmastodon Science Continues

Today marks halfway point in seven-week dig

The team from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science is accelerating their digging effort this week as they reach the halfway point in the seven-week project to remove Ice Age fossils from Ziegler Reservoir near Snowmass Village. Five local volunteers and 10 additional people from Denver have joined the onsite crew of more than 40, which is digging at an aggressive pace with the help of two excavators, two track hoes, and additional machines.

"Our goal is to remove 50 percent of the bones by the end of this week," said Dr. Kirk Johnson, the leader of the Museum's excavation team and vice president of the Research and Collections Division. "We worked closely with engineers who staked out the exact locations to dig and expose the ancient lake bottom, where most of the fossils are located. The landscape is changing daily as we pull out tons of dirt and incredible numbers of fossils."

More than 1,000 fossils have been uncovered since digging resumed on May 15, including 15 jacketed fossils of mastodon skulls and pelvises that each weigh 300 to 700 pounds and are the size of a kitchen stove. A team of 10 individuals is cleaning, wrapping, and processing the fossils to prepare them for conservation and research back at the Museum in Denver.

Scientists and educators from the Museum plan to share the latest about this amazing find at several upcoming events, including the Ice Age Spectacular in Snowmass Village on June 18 and 19, and presentations by Johnson at Colorado Mountain College on June 15 and at the Aspen Institute on June 23.

NO BONE LEFT BEHIND CHALLENGE!

With only seven weeks to spend in the field and bones popping out of the ground left and right, it's only natural for things to get a little competitive at the dig site. Follow teams Mammoth, Sloth, Tiger Salamander, and Trench as they compete for the biggest bone count in the No Bones Left Behind Challenge. Watch the video on this page to get introduced to the team captains, and stayed tuned this Friday for an update on which team is in the lead. Who are you rooting for?

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  Today marks halfway point in seven-week dig

  June 7, 2011
  The team from the Museum is accelerating their digging effort this week as they reach the halfway point in the seven-week project to remove Ice Age fossils from Ziegler Reservoir near Snowmass Village.

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