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| About Us > A Look at the Collection > Digs |
The Indiana State Museum strives to be a leader in research and one of the most important ways we do that is through annual archaeological and paleobiology collection digs across the state. From the State Historic Sites to Megenity Cave, digs conducted by the museum's world-class staff of curators provide information that is then shared with you. In the summer of 2008, a dig in northern Indiana unearthed a collection of four mastodont skeletons. Our staff is currently preserving and studying the bones and other finds from this dig. It is hoped that these mastodonts will be included in an upcoming exhibit, Elephant Graveyard, focusing on the mastodonts and mammoths once common in our state.
The great artifacts, fossils and objects discovered on our annual digs make their way to the museum's galleries. Through constant learning and annual digs, your Indiana State Museum provides new insight into the Indiana story.
Megenity Cave Dig
The Indiana State Museum conducts an annual dig at Megenity Cave in Southern Indiana. Over the 23 years that museum staff have been digging and researching there, the cave has proven to be a wealth of information. Megenity is where much has been learned about the peccary, a cousin of today's pig. You can learn more about what's been unearthed in Megenity Cave by visiting the Age of Ice gallery at the museum; just watch out for the wolf!
Bothwell Dig
One of the largest discoveries of mastodont bones in the country, and the largest in Indiana, was unearthed near Hebron, Indiana, in July 2005. Tom Bothwell, a residential property owner, discovered the fossil remains while digging a pond on his property. "I wasn't sure what to think at first," said Bothwell. "The tractor operator was sure excited, but I wanted to find out more about what we had uncovered. Now that it's turned into a major find, I'm pretty happy to be a part of it."
After doing some research, Bothwell contacted the Indiana State Museum. A team of 15 scientists and volunteers from the museum led by Ron Richards, Chief Curator of Natural History, left a dig in southern Indiana to salvage the bones Bothwell had found and to see what else they could unearth.
Richards and his team quickly discovered that they were dealing with more than one animal. As they continued to dig the team uncovered the remains of at least four mastodonts and possibly more. While mastodont findings are not uncommon in Indiana, the animals are usually found alone. "We're always thrilled to find a mastodont, but to find four and maybe five together is just incredible," Richards said. "We've found mostly partial bones so far. Even without the entire skeleton, we're hoping to get some answers as to what happened here and why the animals are together."
Richards believes the mastodonts were young adults and probably female. However, it won't be until they get the bones back to the lab for analysis that they'll know for sure. The team's primary goal was to recover as much of the skeletons as possible.
The team arrived on site in early July and dug for five days. Once back at the museum, the team began the tedious and delicate process of preserving and reconstructing the bones, which can take up to six months to complete. The museum hopes to put much of what was found at the Bothwell dig in a future exhibit about mastodonts and mammoths in Indiana called Elephant Graveyards. This historic find marks the 10th mastodont dig in 20 years for the Indiana State Museum. The museum is considered to be the mastodont expert in Indiana and is recognized around the country as a leader in the field.
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