Newswise — A Wichita State University anthropology professor and his students are learning first-hand what it takes to painstakingly uncover what could be one of the oldest mammoth tusks ever found in Kansas. It all started in August, when workers digging a utility trench in Cunningham, Kansas, discovered a large bone. David Hughes, an associate anthropology professor at Wichita State, was called to come take a look. Together with several students, Hughes traveled the hour to Cunningham and positively identified the remains as a tusk from a mammoth he believes could be upwards of 200,000 years old. Hughes is still awaiting carbon dating results from the Kansas Geological Survey. In October, the WSU crew successfully excavated the tusk, stabilizing it in the field and then wrapping it in a plaster and burlap cast to bring back to the university. Hughes and his students have begun the process of cutting away the cast and restoring the remains for research and eventual display. Why are they interested?
Scientists like Hughes are interested in mammoths because for the past few thousand years of their existence they occupied North America with the ancestors of the American Indians, and sites where those first Americans hunted mammoths have been found across much of North America.
In this case, the tusk appears to be far too old to have human remains associated with it, an intriguing find for Hughes.
“It can provide important clues about the regional pre-history, and mammoth tusks are evidence of a rich past connecting modern dwellers in the region with ancient history,” he says.# # # # #Contact: David Hughes, 316-978-7081 or [email protected].
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