 Experts
We
have been fortunate to have the help and support of Dr. Jeffrey
Saunders, vertebrate paleontologist and world-known mammoth
expert. He is the curator and chair of the Geology Section
at the Illinois State Museum in Springfield. Jeff visits our
site several times each term. He has taught us a lot about
mammoths, showed us field techniques, helped us dig, and advised
us along the way on many aspects of the project. We greatly
appreciate his continued support.
We
have also benefited from the expertise of geologists from
the Illinois State Geological Survey, Dr. David Grimley
and Dr. Leon Follmer, who specialize in studying the soil
material (loess) in which our mammoth is buried. Their
expertise is critical in understanding the geology, which
is helping us figure out the how and when of Benny's demise.
To
learn more about the Pleistocene Glaciations in Illinois
click here.
We are grateful to Paul Countryman, Exhibits Production Chief at the Illinois State Museum in Springfield, for coming up with the design of the metal frame that we used to successfully turn over the skull block and support it as we work on the underside of the block.
Dr. Daniel Joyce, archeologist and Senior Curator of Kenosha Public Museum in Kenosha, Wisconsin, came to Principia College in the Spring 2004 with his ground-penetrating radar (GPR) equipment to help us determine which direction we should go to find more bones. I had met Dan at the 3rd International Mammoth Conference in the Yukon the previous year and invited him to test his then new equipment in our loess. He was interested and very generous – he did the work gratis ; we just covered some of his travel expenses. Thank you, Dan! We are awaiting results. Preliminary results on the west side indicated that there may be more bones to the west as far as four meters from our current wall. This is the direction in which we have been finding new bones. Extending the excavation farther west will require extending our shelter as well.
To learn about mammoths found in Wisconsin, click here http://www.woollymammoth.org/
Mr. George Corner has graciously given our mammoth classes tours of Elephant Hall, an amazing "parade" of mammoths and other Proboscideans, and their extensive collection of mammoth bones that he manages in a separate building. We are so grateful for his willingness to meet us on the weekend.
Dr.
George Engelmann, University of Nebraska-Omaha and Class
of 1971
We are also fortunate to have a
vertebrate paleontologist among our distinguished alumni!
Dr. George Engelmann specializes in small mammals and
has participated in several vertebrate paleontological
digs, including one of an Allosaurus (large dinosaur similar
to a Tyrannosaurus Rex) that required a helicopter to
remove a major part of it.
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