New find will be only second Trans-Pecos mammoth artifact to be carbon-dated.
From the Center for Big Bend Studies at Sul Ross State University
ALPINE — Although he was searching for deer, a hunter at the O2 Ranch (a privately owned ranch in Brewster and Presidio counties) found something very different and a little puzzling. Could it be a mammoth tusk? In West Texas?
“I was skeptical when a deer hunter showed me a picture of what he thought was a fossil,” says O2 Ranch Manager Will Juett. “I figured it was likely just an old stump, but imagined how great it would be if he was right.”
Juett says his great working relationship with the Center for Big Bend Studies (CBBS) at Sul Ross State University in Alpine spurred him to immediately reach out to CBBS Director Bryon Schroeder and CBBS archaeologist Erika Blecha. The researchers contacted graduate student Haley Bjorklund from the University of Kansas, a CBBS collaborator specializing in environmental archaeology who is interested in studying ancient animals like the mammoth. All three, plus anthropology professors Justin Garnett and Devin Pettigrew, met up at the ranch as soon as possible to explore the discovery further.
“It paid off big time,” Juett says of their visit. “When they confirmed what they had uncovered, I couldn’t believe it.”
Schroeder says the researchers quickly verified that it was indeed a mammoth tusk, a very rare find in West Texas. “The tusk was located in the drainage area of a creek bed,” Schroeder says. “We realized pretty quickly there was not more to the skeleton, it was just an isolated tusk that had been separated from the rest of the remains.”
The researchers then spent two days plaster-jacketing the tusk — covering it in strips of plaster-covered burlap for protection — and building a frame to transfer it to Sul Ross State University for further study.
“A local [who subsequently wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on it] found one in Fort Stockton in the 1960s,” Schroeder says, noting that it’s the only mammoth tusk in the Trans-Pecos that was carbon dated, as that process began in the 1950s. “There was a big range of error back then. Now we can get it down to a narrower range within 500 years.”
Carbon dating results will be available in the next few months. While researchers study the new find with newer technologies, the discovery sparks our imaginations.
“Seeing that mammoth tusk just brings the ancient world to life,” Juett says of the find that created a buzz of excitement for everyone involved. “Now, I can’t help but imagine that huge animal wandering around the hills on the O2 Ranch. My next thought is always about the people that faced those huge tusks with only a stone tool in their hand!”
To learn more about the Center for Big Bend Studies, visit https://cbbs.sulross.edu or email cbbs@sulross.edu.
About the Center for Big Bend Studies:
Established by Sul Ross State University in 1987, the Center for Big Bend Studies promotes archaeological and historical research in the Greater Big Bend region of Texas and northern Mexico. For more than 35 years, CBBS has conducted studies and provided educational opportunities for university students, the public, and outside researchers. CBBS is committed to the recovery, protection, and sharing of this region’s rich cultural legacy through dynamic programs of research, education, public outreach, and publication.
About the O2 Ranch:
The O2 is one of the largest private ranches in Texas at roughly 272,000 acres, and is named for the O2 brand, which was first registered in 1888. Lykes Bros. Inc. purchased the property in 1942. The ranch is in Brewster and Presidio Counties and offers unique hunting opportunities as well as cattle grazing. Situated in the high Chihuahuan Desert with elevations between 3,400 and 5,500 feet above sea level, the ranch is very diverse both geologically and archaeologically.