FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  July 14, 2004

CONTACT:  Michael Fosha, (605) 394-1936

Excavations on Mammoth Kill site to resume in July near Brookings

PIERRE, S.D. -- Excavations on an 11,000 year old archaeological site containing mammoth remains are scheduled to continue this summer in South Dakota, the South Dakota State Historical Society has announced.

The Mammoth Kill site, located in the Brookings vicinity along the Big Sioux River in eastern South Dakota, was initially tested last summer, said Michael Fosha with the State Historical Society’s Archaeological Research Center in Rapid City. This year’s excavation is scheduled for July 19-29.

“Findings from initial Mammoth Kill excavations have yielded stone tools, bison and mammoth bone, and a radiocarbon determination of approximately 11,000 years,” said Fosha. “What may be the oldest site in South Dakota may have two occupations, one of which may be related to a mammoth butchering/kill event.”

The site was discovered during initial excavations in 2003 while the South Dakota State Historical Society, Siouxland Heritage Museums in Sioux Falls, and South Dakota Archaeological Society jointly were investigating the location for presence of human interaction with mammoth bone that had been discovered two years earlier by three canoeists. This season the site will be investigated by the State Historical Society, Siouxland Heritage Museums, South Dakota Archaeological Society, Augustana Archeology Laboratory in Sioux Falls, University of Kansas and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Currently, the oldest site in South Dakota is the Lang-Ferguson site, in the southwestern part of the state. That site is approximately 11,180 years old and is quite significant for its evidence of being a mammoth-butchering site, Fosha said.

For more information contact Fosha at (605) 396-1936 or Mike.Fosha@state.sd.us.

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