Colorado Mountain College students from Sandy Jackson’s archaeology class were granted a tour of the fossil excavation site in Snowmass Village on Friday.
Just one month ago, on October 14, 2010, construction workers on the site of Ziegler Reservoir in Snowmass Village uncovered some extraordinary bones, the first of which belonging to a Colombian mammoth.
The excitement has been growing ever since day one. Finds have included much older bones found in deeper layers of sediment: mastodon, Ice Age bison, Ice Age deer, a sloth tooth and an even a salamander.
The initial find immediately attracted the attention of scientists from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science who have been on site daily, two of whom were on hand to speak with CMC students and faculty on Friday.
Dr. Kirk Johnson, vice president of research and collections and chief curator of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, explained to the group that these fossils have been perfectly preserved due to the type of sediment covering them for thousands of years.
“What we have here,” Johnson said, “is death plus burial. If you have death without burial, then it’s just ashes to ashes and dust to dust. But the animals who happen to die in a place like this where deposition is happening are the ones where you’re lucky enough to get fossils.”
He reports that new bones are being found every five to six minutes.
During CMC’s visit, there was even more breaking news. Inside the tented area where the mammoth was being excavated, students and faculty witnessed workers who discovered possible gnaw marks on one of the ancient giant’s bones.
As winter conditions approach, Friday’s site tour is likely one of the last this season. Scientists hope to be able to remove what is exposed now and will anxiously await a chance to resume their work in Snowmass Village after the spring thaw.
For more information and current updates, visit the Denver Museum of Nature and Science webpage devoted to the finds.