Ohio Northern University Environmental & Field Biology

Week 1:
Hello everyone! My name is Jacey, and I am one of 11 summer interns at The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, South Dakota. If you aren't familiar with the place, The Mammoth Site is an in-situ bonebed and museum around a Pleistocene sinkhole in the Black Hills. The Site currently has uncovered 61 mammoths and are continuing to do further research and excavation. My first official work week was spent in the Bonebed doing excavation work! In the west end of the Bonebed, we are currently working to level out the walkway area so that we can move around easier, especially when we are performing maintenance on our fossils, like for glyptal removal or for regular check-ins. We weren't expecting to find anything because we were so close to the rock wall and above the bone layer where the mammoths were uncovered, but I found a small, completely articulated fossilized fish (look at the top of the large rock chunk) and fossilized plant material, both of which are a rare find and both are on their way to Collections! Despite being covered in dust all week, I've had a great time excavating! I'm rotating out to different stations for the next couple of weeks, but stay tuned for some glyptal removal when I get back into the Bonebed!