Mammoth Site, Hot Springs, South Dakota: Part 1
One of the places we wanted to visit was the Mammoth Site in South Dakota Hot Springs. We were there once before about 20 years ago when my sister and I were little, but not too little to remember it somewhat. Going again was a fun trip down memory lane.
The first thing you see when you walk through the doors of this museum/working dig site is a huge mammoth skeleton replica.
It was easily twice as tall as my sister, not that hard a thing to do. We don't call ourselves the Pixxie Hobbits for no reason. Anyway, we got to the museum early, the first car to drive into the parking lot that day. Instead of letting you go right in and look around, you have to wait for the next tour. Once the tour is over, you can wander about all you like, but they want to give you some background on the site before giving you free run of the place. While we waited, we explored the gift shop--my sister and I each found a necklace to take home--and I got a snapshot of the museum's frequently asked questions board.
With the first tour of the day filling out, we were ushered into the theater where they showed a short video of the presumed history of the site. It tells the story of how the scientists think the mammoth site was formed. When the video is over, they hand out the most uncomfortable things you will ever put in your ears: the "mammoth" headphones to help you hear your tour guide better. At last they whisk you away to the first room where the actual dig site is housed.
As you can see, the site is pretty messy, characteristic of being a working dig and a museum at the same time. On the back wall of the dig towards the center of the photo you can see some paper arrows that point out where they think mammoth footprints are. You might also note the buckets scattered throughout the picture, and those too are from the working dig. And in the bottom center left you can see a couple of the bones that are super white because they've been casted over for preservation and possible removal. None of the bones at this dig site are petrified, making them extremely brittle and fragile.
On the side wall they had a couple of life sized cutouts of mammoths. What I didn't know before is that the smaller of the two is the woolly mammoth, which is not in fact the biggest. Actually the one in front is the biggest and is known as the Columbian mammoth. At this dig site, most of the bones found have been Columbian mammoths, and not woolly mammoths.
The picture above shows the other side of the dig. You can see more buckets, tools, and flags scattered around on this side. You can also see casted bones. Along the back wall on the left are some cutouts of the other animals whose bones have been found at this sight, including the short-faced bear in the center of the cutouts. The short-faced bear skull found here is so rare and valuable that only twelve have ever been found in the world. These guys make replicas of it and send them all over the world for scientists to study. Along the right side of the back wall you can see the picture of the mammoths and of today's elephants. In order from tallest to shortest it goes: Columbian mammoth, African elephant, woolly mammoth and Asian elephant at the same size, and pygmy mammoth.
Now, in about the center of the picture a little more on the left hand side, there is a very large bone, casted over for protection. It also has ropes leading down to it from the crane at the top of the photo. This is one of the skulls that they intend to remove in late July. It will be lifted up with the crane, moved downstairs, and preserved. They estimate this skull to weigh approximately one thousand pounds!
Back on the front side of the dig again, you can see the bones better at this angle. This viewpoint shows two of their best skulls and their most complete skeleton.
This is Napoleon "Bone-apart," the most complete skeleton they have found at this site. It looks a little mangled to me, and I can't help but wonder why. What happened after he died? Did he get crushed by a big rock settling on top of him? Obviously parts of him didn't decay and float away, at least not far. A skeleton on the other side was missing it's skull, and it was speculated that it was nearby in the jumble of other bones and skulls. But what could cause such a tangle of bones and body parts? How did the animal lose its head or get crumpled into one big "blob," as it were? We might never know, but it fascinates me just the same.
And the last picture for this post is of the skull called "Beauty." This one is the nicest skull they have. It really does look quite beautiful just sitting pretty on its rock. Although, again, I have to wonder, where's the rest of it?
Anyway, we learned some other interesting facts too, like that there have been no female mammoths found in the sinkhole at Mammoth Site, Hot Springs. All of the mammoths found here have been male, but that brings me to another interesting point. What's shown as being dug up is only twenty feet into the ground from where it was when it was first discovered, and the tour guide said that they drilled sixty-five feet down before they began to do much digging and found bone, ivory, and dirt intermingled all the way without actually reaching the bottom of the sinkhole. Yeah. That means there's a lot more to be discovered at the mammoth site, so I wonder, could there be a female or two buried deeper in the ground? We may never know that either.
For now they intend to keep the place pretty much like it is on the side with Napoleon "Bone-apart." The tour guide told my mom, when she asked, that the complete skeleton is so spectacular they don't want to move it. Since they are a museum and not just a dig site, they want to keep that skeleton in tact as it is if possible, because what if there's not something so great underneath? So, for now, we'll just have to keep wondering. If nothing else, Mammoth Site, Hot Springs, is a pretty cool place to visit.
Oh, and if anyone's interested, the site will be moving that skull I talked about above (the one attached to the crane) in late July and they'll be posting a video of the process on their Facebook page so that anyone can watch. Just look up "The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs South Dakota" on Facebook to find the page.
Tomorrow I'll put up the rest of the photos I took of this place, but this is all I have for tonight. Be sure to come back tomorrow.
~SilverStar-Burst
The first thing you see when you walk through the doors of this museum/working dig site is a huge mammoth skeleton replica.
 |
| Mammoth Skeleton in the Entryway |
It was easily twice as tall as my sister, not that hard a thing to do. We don't call ourselves the Pixxie Hobbits for no reason. Anyway, we got to the museum early, the first car to drive into the parking lot that day. Instead of letting you go right in and look around, you have to wait for the next tour. Once the tour is over, you can wander about all you like, but they want to give you some background on the site before giving you free run of the place. While we waited, we explored the gift shop--my sister and I each found a necklace to take home--and I got a snapshot of the museum's frequently asked questions board.
 |
| Frequently Asked Questions at Mammoth Site, Hot Springs |
With the first tour of the day filling out, we were ushered into the theater where they showed a short video of the presumed history of the site. It tells the story of how the scientists think the mammoth site was formed. When the video is over, they hand out the most uncomfortable things you will ever put in your ears: the "mammoth" headphones to help you hear your tour guide better. At last they whisk you away to the first room where the actual dig site is housed.
 |
| First Side of the Dig Site |
As you can see, the site is pretty messy, characteristic of being a working dig and a museum at the same time. On the back wall of the dig towards the center of the photo you can see some paper arrows that point out where they think mammoth footprints are. You might also note the buckets scattered throughout the picture, and those too are from the working dig. And in the bottom center left you can see a couple of the bones that are super white because they've been casted over for preservation and possible removal. None of the bones at this dig site are petrified, making them extremely brittle and fragile.
 |
| Life Size Mammoth Cutouts |
On the side wall they had a couple of life sized cutouts of mammoths. What I didn't know before is that the smaller of the two is the woolly mammoth, which is not in fact the biggest. Actually the one in front is the biggest and is known as the Columbian mammoth. At this dig site, most of the bones found have been Columbian mammoths, and not woolly mammoths.
 |
| Back Side of the Dig Site |
The picture above shows the other side of the dig. You can see more buckets, tools, and flags scattered around on this side. You can also see casted bones. Along the back wall on the left are some cutouts of the other animals whose bones have been found at this sight, including the short-faced bear in the center of the cutouts. The short-faced bear skull found here is so rare and valuable that only twelve have ever been found in the world. These guys make replicas of it and send them all over the world for scientists to study. Along the right side of the back wall you can see the picture of the mammoths and of today's elephants. In order from tallest to shortest it goes: Columbian mammoth, African elephant, woolly mammoth and Asian elephant at the same size, and pygmy mammoth.
Now, in about the center of the picture a little more on the left hand side, there is a very large bone, casted over for protection. It also has ropes leading down to it from the crane at the top of the photo. This is one of the skulls that they intend to remove in late July. It will be lifted up with the crane, moved downstairs, and preserved. They estimate this skull to weigh approximately one thousand pounds!
 |
| Another Angle of the Front Side of the Dig |
Back on the front side of the dig again, you can see the bones better at this angle. This viewpoint shows two of their best skulls and their most complete skeleton.
 |
| Most Complete Skeleton, Napoleon "Bone-apart" |
This is Napoleon "Bone-apart," the most complete skeleton they have found at this site. It looks a little mangled to me, and I can't help but wonder why. What happened after he died? Did he get crushed by a big rock settling on top of him? Obviously parts of him didn't decay and float away, at least not far. A skeleton on the other side was missing it's skull, and it was speculated that it was nearby in the jumble of other bones and skulls. But what could cause such a tangle of bones and body parts? How did the animal lose its head or get crumpled into one big "blob," as it were? We might never know, but it fascinates me just the same.
 |
| Most Spectacular Skull, Beauty |
And the last picture for this post is of the skull called "Beauty." This one is the nicest skull they have. It really does look quite beautiful just sitting pretty on its rock. Although, again, I have to wonder, where's the rest of it?
Anyway, we learned some other interesting facts too, like that there have been no female mammoths found in the sinkhole at Mammoth Site, Hot Springs. All of the mammoths found here have been male, but that brings me to another interesting point. What's shown as being dug up is only twenty feet into the ground from where it was when it was first discovered, and the tour guide said that they drilled sixty-five feet down before they began to do much digging and found bone, ivory, and dirt intermingled all the way without actually reaching the bottom of the sinkhole. Yeah. That means there's a lot more to be discovered at the mammoth site, so I wonder, could there be a female or two buried deeper in the ground? We may never know that either.
For now they intend to keep the place pretty much like it is on the side with Napoleon "Bone-apart." The tour guide told my mom, when she asked, that the complete skeleton is so spectacular they don't want to move it. Since they are a museum and not just a dig site, they want to keep that skeleton in tact as it is if possible, because what if there's not something so great underneath? So, for now, we'll just have to keep wondering. If nothing else, Mammoth Site, Hot Springs, is a pretty cool place to visit.
Oh, and if anyone's interested, the site will be moving that skull I talked about above (the one attached to the crane) in late July and they'll be posting a video of the process on their Facebook page so that anyone can watch. Just look up "The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs South Dakota" on Facebook to find the page.
Tomorrow I'll put up the rest of the photos I took of this place, but this is all I have for tonight. Be sure to come back tomorrow.
~SilverStar-Burst
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