Mammoth Bones Found on Football Stadium

The pursuit of football at Oregon State University recently turned up mammoth bones. Further exploration brought forth other extinct-mammal bones, too.

During the expansion of the Valley Football Center, construction crews digging in the north end zone found the first of the bones.

"There are quite a few bones, and dozens of pieces," Loren Davis, an anthropology associate professor at OSU who was alerted after the first discovery was made, said in a release. "Some of the bones are not in very good shape, but some are actually quite well preserved."

The researchers have not found human bones or artifacts at the site, Davis said in the release. The bones' ages will be determined by testing.

Finding very old mammal bones in the Willamette Valley is not unusual, Davis said in the release. The area where the recent bones were found may have been a bog or marsh long ago, Davis said. They include remnants from bison, mammoth, and a type of horse or camel.

"Animals who were sick would often go to a body of water and die there, so it's not unusual to find a group of bones like this," Davis said in the release. "We had all of these types of animals in the Willamette Valley back then."

Davis and students will continue to excavate earth pulled from the site, which is thought to contain more bones. "It'll be a great learning experience for them, to learn how to identify extinct animal bones," Davis said in the release. "It's really an amazing find."

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