EXCAVATION OF MASTODONT REMAINS FROM MASTODON LAKE IN AURORA, IL

Waubonsee Community College (WCC) students will be able to participate in the excavation of mastodont (Mammut americanum) bones known to exist in Mastodon Lake in Phillips Park in Aurora, IL in the Summer of 2004. This will be a coordinated effort between the City of Aurora, WCC, Illinois State Museum (ISM), and the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS). Mastodon Lake is within a kettle on the western flank of the Minooka Moraine formed during the last glaciation in northeastern Illinois. It is called Mastodon Lake because of the discovery of multiple mastodont bones in marl below peat and muck during its excavation in 1933 by the Civil Works Administration (CWA), a federal work project during the Great Depression. One of the original CWA workers still living indicates that more mastodont bones were discovered and then reburied. Many of the recovered mastodont bones are currently on display in the visitors center in Phillips Park.

A special course entitled ‘Mastodon Excavation’ is to be offered in the Summer of 2004 through Waubonsee Community College. It is a 4 credit class with the intent to actively involve students in the supervised excavation of any bones, including the rumored mastodont remains. Students enrolled in the class will be able to actively collaborate with several experts in Pleistocene paleontology and paleoecology. Collaboration with personnel at the ISM will include Jim Oliver, a professional archeologist who will supervise and direct the daily activity at the dig site, and Jeff Saunders, who will provide expertise in Pleistocene vertebrate paleontology. Collaboration with Brandon Curry at the ISGS will allow us to gain insight into the age, stratigraphy and paleoecology of the Mastodon Lake succession by analyzing the microfossils (pollen, ostracodes) from a transect of cores across the site.

Students enrolled in the credit class will have a unique opportunity, perhaps the pivotal event in their educational and scientific careers, to participate in the systematic excavation and interpretation of mastodont remains alongside practicing experts. A special section of this course will be offered to coincide with the schedules and needs of the local High School science teachers. Additional students and members of the community will be invited to participate in the dig on a volunteer basis.