This was an amazing site, the animal was lying on a hard limestone layer in a soft layer of sand. A mammoth in sand, every bone diggers dream, no chisles, no powertools, no hard matrix of any kind.

The animal was probably re-deposited here after initial burial, it was not articulated and alot of the bones were missing.

The bones did not appear to be fossilized, it was soft and very fragile, like wet shredded wheat. Plant roots have grown into the them, evidently seeking the wealth of nutrients that lie within. Pictured left is the massive femur of this great beast, it measured 57 1/2 inches long.

The Massive femur from a rather different angle (try not to get dizzy). You can clearly see how large this bone actually is.

(left) Team member Phillip Hall applying PVA (poly-vinyl acetate) to the bone, this will harden the bone and help protect it from any further damage.

Notice the vaccum, not new technology, but old technology put to good use. The use of a vaccum helped us to keep the site clean and free of debris, which can sometimes cover up things you have already excavated.