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Travel West guide to unique destinations, sight-seeing, history and
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Travel Bargain destination
in Texas
WACO
MAMMOTH SITE
Prehistoric Fossil Dig in Central Texas
Recently
a TV news show reported of the phenomenon of exotic animals ranched
in Texas. There are more near extinct antelopes here than in
Africa, raised for hunting. Be that a subject for discussion, for the
bones of real extinct exotic animals in central Texas, head to Waco.
About 68,000 years ago, heard of Mammoths roamed the plains of Texas,
and apparently a family of the precursor to today’s elephant
roamed into a river stream bed for a drink, and the rising waters for
a flash
flood overcame them and they died together. In 1978, a pair of fossil
hunters stumbled on a large bone uncovered from an eroding bank of
the Bosque River. Paul Barron and Eddie Bufkin dug out the bone and
took
it to Baylor University. The bone was identified as belonging to a
Columbian Mammoth, a more southerly variety than the more northern
and more famous
Woolly Mammoth (yes there is a difference).
Teams went to the site and began to dig, using brushes and bamboo scrapers
to slowly uncover and expose the fossil bones of 16 mammoths which
had apparently perished in this same flood prone stream over about
15,000
years. The dig continued in the 1990, with six more mammoths excavated,
including a large bull male along with the females and juveniles. Crews
also discovered the remains of a prehistoric camel (Camelops hesternus)
and the tooth of a young saber-tooth cat (Smilodon fatalis). The dig
site was only intended for scientists until 2009, when the decision
was made to open it to the public. The digging as stopped for the moment,
but the site in its current state can be visited. A building structure
in the midst of a 100 acre park with nature walking trails through
oak,
mesquite and cedar trees now covers the exposed bones to protect them
from the elements. A raised walkway allows for a close look at the
bones, with the walls like an art gallery of mammoths as they might
have been
in real life, though no-one can really guarantee exactly. And this
being Texas, if of the certainty the world is only 6,000 years old,
just ignore
all that scientific carbon dating jibberish as socialist propaganda.
Visiting the Waco Mammoth Site
Visits to the site of the Waco Mammoth dig are by tours with guides
explaining the story of the site and the nature of what is known
about Mammoths
and
other creatures of the Pleistocene Age. Tours begin at the Visitors
Center next to the parking lot, which also houses a gift shop. Plans
are underway
for growth of the site, including further digs and enfolding the
site in the National Park system. The site is open from Tuesday to
Friday
11 am to 5 pm, Saturday 9am to 5 pm. Closed Sunday and Monday. Admission
prices are $7 Adults, $6 Seniors, Veterans and Children/Students
13-18, and $5 Children 4 to 12. The Waco Mammoth Site is located
at 6220 Steinbeck
Bend Drive. Take exit 335C from Interstate 35 and head west. © Bargain
Travel West
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Waco Mammoth
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