Mammoth Site, Hot Springs, SD

August 6, 2012

Monday morning dawned clear, with blue skies.  Once we were on our way to Hot Springs, however, a nice cloud cover developed overhead, making our drive a little more comfortable.  We decided to have a "partial" excursion day - we didn't leave the trailer until after we had lunch. I've been wanting to see the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs and this seemed like the right day to do it.
 
We arrived at the Site just in time for the 2:30 tour.  This place is an actual active archeological site, which was discovered in 1974 when a real estate developer broke ground for a new housing development.  They didn't get very far....one of their bulldozers nicked and uncovered a mammoth tusk.  Once the find was verified, the site became a dig, which is still ongoing.

Entrance to the Mammoth Site

 So far, they're only down about 22 feet in what was once a mud hole.  Their preliminary core samples, down to 67 feet, found evidence of bones all the way down.  They have built a museum over the dig site and conduct tours around the actual workers.  Weird.

"Murray Antoinette" (mammoth without a head)

Tools of the Digging Trade

 The bones and fossils they are finding date back around 27,000 years.  Since the bones were submerged for so long in water originally, there is no DNA left in the bone material so they can't match complete skeletons, but so far, 120 tusks have been found, which leads the scientists to conclude that they have found 60 mammoths so far, Woolly Mammoths (57) and Columbian Mammoths (3).  The Exhibit Hall was interesting as well.  Nice excursion.

Tour Information Sent Via Phones

We headed back to Custer to walk the streets that are full of bikers. Wow! There's nothing else like the sight of hundreds of motorcycles lined up and down the road.  And the people were great people-watching fodder.

Bikes Galore!

 Jim and I took a front window seat at Bitter Ester's Brewhouse for dinner and watched the people go by.  I had my first buffalo burger!  It was really tasty.  I couldn't leave Custer without trying one.  This is, after all, buffalo country!  I would definitely eat buffalo again.

Jim, Pondering