Mammoth Site

The main attraction in Hot Springs where I was staying, is the Mammoth Site. It is basically an in situ dig place, where you can walk around and actually watch archaeologists dig in the dirt for bones. It's a huge building erected over what was once a sinkhole, where possibly dozens of mammoths fell in and drowned over a period of some hundreds of years. They still have quite a few years of digging to do before they reach the bottom.

Afterwards you can enter the museum, where they have some cool replicas of skeletons and such. You can also overdose (I know I did) on information posters about chemistry and anatomy and whatnot. Eager little snots can sign up to come and be part of the digging crew every summer and they have several demonstrations during the day, such as learning to throw with an atlatl (look it up, ignoramus). All in all, good value for the 8.50 you pay for the ticket.

All pics here.

This is not a replica, it is an actual, fuckin' mammoth skull they are unearthing. How cool is that?


Skeletons in various states of completeness are unearthed, weighed, measured and taken casts of.


This giant greets you in the entrance hall.


This one stands just inside the museum.


I believe this is a giant short jawed bear, the biggest bear ever to have wandered the earth.


A cast of a mammoth jawbone. You actually get to hold one of these in the dig hall. I learned that mammoths had only four teeth, two below and two upstairs and that they had six sets in a lifetime. Iffin they had worn down their sixth pair they would generally starve to death pretty fast.


People learning how to throw an atlatl.