A fossilized mammoth tusk discovered in a Seattle construction site was retrieved Friday evening from a 30-foot-deep pit to the sound of cheers and clicking from people taking pictures.
Scientists and construction crews used a crane to retrieve and hoist the tusk, which was placed on a pallet, encased in plaster and covered in blankets, to a waiting flat-bed truck. The tusk headed to its new home a few miles away at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture on the University of Washington's Seattle campus, where it will be preserved, studied and eventually put on display.
The tusk, believed to be of a Columbian mammoth, was measured at 8.5-feet long after it was fully exposed overnight. It's between 20,000 and 60,000 years old and with the plaster encasing could weigh up to 500 pounds, said Christian Sidor, a paleontologist from the Burke Museum.
The tusk is water-logged, and scientists say properly restoring and preserving it could take at least a year.
Construction workers found the tusk Tuesday about 30 feet below street level, thinking at first that it might be a pipe or a root. The company building a 118-unit apartment complex at the site has nearly stopped construction to accommodate the scientists.
No more fossils were found during the overnight dig, the museum said Friday.
"Generally tusks like these are the last thing left" after animals and time remove the bones and the rest of the creature, Sidor said.
The tusk's fate was entirely up to the landowner, who decided to donate it to the Burke Museum. The costs of the delay aren't known yet, said Scott Koppelman of AMLI Residential, which also owns apartment complexes to the south and west of the construction site.
The benefits to the community "outweigh the costs," he said Thursday.
Mammoths and mastodons were ancient elephant relatives that roamed North American lands that were not covered in ice. Both became extinct as glaciers retreated at the end of the Ice Age. Columbian mammoths grew to 12 feet at the shoulder, or about the size of today's Asian elephants, the museum said.
Fossilized mammoth remains have been found numerous times in the Seattle area and across the state, so much so that the Columbian mammoth is the state's official fossil.
Still, most of the Burke Museum's collection is fragments. The tusk found this week would be one of the largest and most intact specimens found.
The museum's collection has 25 mammoth fossils from King County, including a tooth that was found a few blocks away from the tusk when the Mercer Street on-ramp to Interstate 5 was built years ago.
Children at a daycare next door and adults all cheered as the pallet hung over the construction site.
At the day care, there was a hand-made sign that said, "Woolly U B my Valentine?"
AFP
Sat Feb 15 2014
![Rare mammoth tusk lifted from construction pit Rare mammoth tusk lifted from construction pit](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2014-02/41392442990_295x200.jpg)
![Ahli Parlimen Machang mungkin digantung 6 bulan Ahli Parlimen Machang mungkin digantung 6 bulan](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-01/81705870474_WanAhmadFayhsalP.jpg)
Ahli Parlimen Machang mungkin digantung 6 bulan
Ahli Parlimen Machang, Wan Ahmad Fayshal Wan Ahmad Kamal berkemungkinan bakal digantung daripada menghadiri sidang Dewan Rakyat selama enam bulan.
Chelsea siasat laungan perkauman Enzo terhadap Perancis
Kelab bola sepak Chelase pada Rabu mengumumkan prosedur tatatertib ke atas pemain tengah mereka, Enzo Fernandez, susulan dakwaan telah mengeluarkan laungan bersifat perkauman terhadap Colombia, selepas memenangi Piala Copa America 2024 bersama skuad Argentina.
Lebih daripada 60 kanak-kanak ditahan, dipukul, diseksa di El Salvador
Lebih 60 kanak-kanak di El Salvador ditahan, diseksa dan dipukul secara rambang semenjak kerajaan mengisytiharkan darurat lebih dua tahun lalu untuk membanteras amalan gangsterime.
Datuk Bandar Paris berenang, yakin sungai Seine bersih
Datuk Bandar Paris, Anne Hidalgo berenang di Sungai Seine menjelang acara olimpik sebagai usaha menyakinkan orang ramai bahawa kualiti sungai tersebut cukup bersih dan bersedia untuk digunakan.
Biden akan tarik diri jika doktor dedahkan ada masalah kesihatan
Presiden Amerika Syarikat Joe Biden berkata beliau akan menarik diri daripada Pilihan Raya Presiden jika doktor mendedahkan beliau mempunyai masalah kesihatan.
Wanita racun lima orang kemudian bunuh diri
Seorang wanita berusia 56 tahun dipercayai meracuni lima pelancong Vietnam dengan sianida yang dihidangkan dalam cawan kemudian meminum racun itu sendiri di sebuah hotel mewah di Bangkok, menurut polis pada Rabu.
Sarawak tarik pelaburan RM4.2 bilion
Sarawak berjaya menarik RM4.2 bilion dalam pelaburan yang diluluskan pada suku pertama 2024, bahagian penting dalam Agenda Pertumbuhan Negara berikutan pelancaran Pelan Induk Perindustrian Baharu (NIMP) 2030.
RUU Perubatan (Pindaan) 2024 diluluskan
Rang Undang-Undang (RUU) Perubatan (Pindaan) 2024 bertujuan menambah baik peruntukan untuk melaksanakan proses kelulusan dan kepakaran pengamal perubatan, diluluskan di Dewan Rakyat hari ini.
Kerjasama dengan Ericsson mampu angkat Malaysia - PM Anwar
Kerjasama dengan Ericsson mampu angkat Malaysia - PM Anwar
Suspek dibebaskan dengan jaminan polis
Seorang pekebun lelaki yang direman bagi membantu siasatan kes dua beradik maut akibat termakan keropok beracun minggu lalu, akan tamat pada Khamis dan tidak akan disambung semula.