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Once word of the find hit local newspapers, volunteers and security guards hired by the water district rushed to guard the site from vandalism and any unauthorized collecting. UCMP assistant director Mark Goodwin visited the site on Wednesday, July 13, and identified the bones as those of a Columbian mammoth, an elephant relative that lived in the Bay Area during the Pleistocene. Mammoths, members of the Proboscidea, migrated into North America about two million years ago and went extinct about 11,000 years ago. Goodwin tentatively identified the exposed bones as a leg bone, assorted shoulder or pelvic bones, and two tusks. The tusks were identified based on their shape and internal structure; typical bone has a spongy cross-section but tusks have concentric rings of material. The bones appear to be recently exposed and are in relatively good shape, despite their exposure to water and weathering. It is hoped that more of the mammoth will be discovered once excavation begins, either deeper in the sand or washed farther downstream. Security guards will continue to be posted at the site while a crew of graduate students from UCMP assist Goodwin in excavating the bones within the next few weeks. To prevent them from further deterioration, the students will brush them with a “hardener,” a chemical that penetrates and stabilizes the bone. The position of each bone will be mapped before they are wrapped in plaster-soaked strips of burlap. Once the plaster dries, the bones will be sufficiently protected for removal and transport to UCMP, the official state repository for California fossils. Samples of sediment will be collected to help determine the taphonomy (the environment of deposition) of the quarry to try and determine how these mammoth bones came to be in this location. Bone samples will be carbon-dated to determine the age of the specimen. Bone chemical analysis may also provide some insight into the climate of the Bay Area during the Pleistocene. Once cleaned, the bones may be returned on long term exhibit loan to the Santa Clara Valley Water District or a San Jose museum for public exhibition. |