In October 2010, a bulldozer operator working near a Colorado ski area uncovered the tusk of a young female mammoth. Over the next 10 months, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science conducted its largest-ever fossil excavation, yielding a treasure trove of well-preserved Ice Age fossils.  Museum crews uncovered 5,000 bones of 41 kinds of Ice Age animals, including mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths, camels, deer, horses, and giant bison.  The preserved series of Ice Age fossil ecosystems is one of the most significant fossil discoveries ever made in Colorado. This discovery at Ziegler Reservoir near Snowmass Village will change forever our understanding of alpine life in the Ice Age.

Get caught up on everything that happened in the field, learn what scientists are doing to preserve the bones, and find out the latest discoveries from our team of experts.

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See how this amazing discovery unfolded, from the first fossil to the last day of the dig.

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Order Digging Snowmastodon: Discovering an Ice Age World in the Colorado Rockies, a first-person account of the historic Ice Age fossil find, today!

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