Mastodon Mystery: Skull of massive extinct mammal found on local college campus

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - In the middle of an ancient dust and thunderstorm, a mastodon fights against the weather to survive. It’s following the edge of a glacier jutting up to the future Mississippi River when it quickly dies, at least that’s what researchers currently believe led to a death 27,000 years ago.

Found by workers on the grounds of Principia College, this mastodon found itself in major trouble. Two hundred centuries ago, the lands of Illinois looked much different. It’s not clear to archaeologists what this mastodon was doing high on a set of bluffs near frozen glaciers late in the Ice Age -- but whatever the reason, it was the last choice this animal made.

Students, scientists, journalists and the public crowded around the dig site on December 5 to see the skull be removed from the earth for future study. It was the first time the animal had been out of the dirt in literally thousands of years.

Headed by Dr. Andrew Martin, an archaeologist and professor at the small college near Grafton, Illinois, students have spent a semester meticulously removing earth to reveal parts of the giant animal.

While there was hope for an early site of meat harvesting -- meaning an ancient butcher shop -- a new theory has emerged focused on environmental factors playing a role in the mastodon’s demise, according to Dr. Martin.

This is a somewhat unusual find for any college campus, according to researchers, but even more uncanny -- this isn’t the first ancient animal found on the college grounds. A woolly mammoth tusk was found on the grounds before the new Millennium, and now, researchers wonder what else lies hidden beneath the campus.

The work on the dig is not over -- just for the season. Archaeologists hope to find more secrets beneath the Illinois soil.

Avery Martinez covers water, ag & the environment for First Alert 4. He is also a Report for America corps member, as well as a member of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. His coverage goes from corn farms to hunting concerns, and local water rates to buffalo health.

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