Builders Discover Ice Age Fossil While Digging a Pool at Las Vegas Home

A pool installation in Las Vegas couple's backyard revealed a prehistoric bone said to date back to Earth's most recent ice age, KTNV reported.

Matthew Perkins and his husband, who had just moved into their Las Vegas home, was surprised to wake up to police crime investigators in their backyard pool area, Monday.

According to the pool builders, they immediately called the attention of Metropolitan Police Department when they uncovered set of bones about four to five feet below ground level while excavating a supposedly 6-feet deep pool.

The police officers did not raise any law enforcement concerns as they confirmed the bones did not belong to a human body and was way larger to belong to one.

Backyard bone discovery dating back to Ice Age

According to Matthew, house owner, they were digging through ice age layer of sediment which is why they initially suspected the skeleton to belong to an animal. Nevada Science Center Research Director Joshua Bonde then confirmed the bones found in the area are between 6,000 to 14,000 years old and may belong to a horse or a similar mammal. He added that since the bones were found four to five feet beneath present ground surface, the animal could be wandering around the world in southern Nevada, which was not nearly as populated as it is today.

Perkins' home is just about 3 miles away from Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, where hundreds of fossil discovery from the last ice age was located, such as mammoths, lions and camels. According to Bonde, the area was fed by natural springs and served as a watering spot for wildlife in the arid Mohave Desert about 14,000 years ago.

Also read: Once-Believed Extinct, 'Living Fossils' Fish Shows its True Color on New Study

Fossil discovery surprisingly rare

In spite of the area being a short distance away from the fossil bed, Bonde explained that the archaeological discovery was still surprisingly rare, especially it is given that there has already been a lot of development done in the area. They now expected this event to be a lot more common than usual due to more excavations occurring.

The Perkins' concern for now is knowing what the discovery really was and what it can contribute to science, if it really was something. In reference to the United States law for Fossils and Paleontology, fossils found on private land belong to the landowner.

The homeowners are now working with Bonde to determine if the bones can be extracted. Some of the bones have already been removed from the backyard, however they suspected some parts of it was still under the home's foundation. In the most recent report, the homeowners said they have found part of a jaw bone with teeth attached in it. The couple decided to turn over the bones to Josh Bonde with the Nevada Science Center.

Bonde also added that in any case other homeowners in the area near the fossil beds find animal bones , they can contact the Nevada Science Center at 702-769-8707 or info@nvscicenter.org for further assistance.

Also read: Fossils of Ancient Horseshoe Crab Shed Light on its Final Moments