While the jaw was detached from the skull, it appears to be relatively intact, which gives Retallack hope that the fragments were found near the site where the animal died. If that’s the case, examination of the surrounding soil could give scientists valuable information about the environment in which the mastodon lived.

No attempt has yet been made to estimate the animal’s age using radiocarbon dating, but based on the depth at which the jaw was found, Retallack said it might have died anywhere from 12,000 to 30,000 years ago.

That means it’s possible that the giant creature inhabited the Willamette Valley at the same time as early humans, whose presence has been documented at Paisley Cave in Southern Oregon as far back as 12,300 B.C. While humans are known to have hunted mammoths, no confirmed mastodon kills have been found.

For now, the Corvallis mastodon remains that have been excavated so far rest in a cardboard box in Moorefield’s office — a few dozen fragments of bone and tooth, some as small as a marble and some as big as a man’s fist.

Holding the pieces in his hand gives him a quiet thrill, a feeling of connection to a bygone age.