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‘We were holding a piece of history’: Road crews discover mastodon bones in Michigan (Grand Rapids Public Museum)
Research and dig crews inspect mastodon bones found in Kent County, Michigan, on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. (Grand Rapids Public Museum)
The skeleton appeared to be 60% of a single, juvenile mastodon that died over 11,700 years ago, Dr. Cory Redɱaп, the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s science curator, said.
Crews were working on the Geers Intercounty drain construction project in Newaygo when Drain Commissioner Ken Yonker said an orange tint in the soupy mud had the team growing suspicious that it could be bones.
“We were in shock. We were holding a piece of history,” he said.
‘We were holding a piece of history’: Road crews discover mastodon bones in Michigan (Grand Rapids Public Museum)
The bones are expected to be on view at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, but the conservation process could take up to 1 1/2 years until they’re ready for display, Redɱaп said.
“The Grand Rapids Public Museum is pleased to receive the Clapp Family Mastodon into our Collections,” Redɱaп said. “Most of the objects in the Museum’s Collections were donated by people in the community, like the Clapp Family, so those objects could be shared with the broader community and preserved for future generations. ”
The museum is working with the University of Michigan’s Museum of Paleontology to continue studying the bones.