When a construction crew bulldozed over land in Hot Springs, South Dakota, in 1974, they were stunned to find a mass gravesite for Columbian mammoths, a species that lived in North America until about 11,000 years ago. Dr. Larry Agenbroad stepped in to investigate. In 1975, Dr. Agenbroad and his team found a complete skull of a mammoth, including tusks; in 1976, Dr. Agenbroad teamed up with Earthwatch to launch what is now the longest-running Earthwatch project. The site is now the largest repository of Columbian mammoths in North America, and 60 complete mammoth skeletons—including three woolly mammoths—have been unearthed to date. |