Builders stumble across ice age 'graveyard' filled with fossilised remains of dozens of huge animals



Building contractors have unearthed an ice age graveyard containing the fossilised remains of dozens of giant animals that died up to 150,000 years ago.

Mammoths, mastodons and a giant ground sloth were all discovered at the bottom of a drained reservoir near the Aspen ski resort in Colorado's Rocky Mountains.

The remains are thought to be one of the largest collections of animals from the last ice age to be found in one place, reported the Daily Telegraph.



Discovery: Building contractors unearthed an ice age graveyard in Colorado's Rocky Mountains containing the fossilised remains of dozens of giant animals that died up to 150,000 years ago

They were found in sediment in October by contractors preparing to build a new dam at the reservoir near Snowmass Village, which is located on a plateau some 8,870ft above sea level.

Palaeontologists have since found more than 600 bones from 25 different animals from seven different species beneath the reservoir's bed.



Heavy snow has forced them to call off their search until the spring, but they fully expect to find more fossils when they return.

Their haul so far still makes for impressive reading - ten American mastodons; four Columbian mammoths; four ice age bison; a Jefferson's ground sloth, an ice age deer and a tiger salamander have all been identified.

Standing on the verge: Scientists excavate a large mastodon tusk at the Ziegler Reservoir site. Heavy snow has forced them to postpone their work until the spring



Lead scientist Dr Kirk Johnson, from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, told the Telegraph: 'It is an amazing site and is very unusual.

'It is a true treasure trove of ice age fossils.

'Many fossils are pristine as they have been very well preserved. Some of the bones we recovered are still white while we are finding leaves that are still green and tree branches with the bark still on.'

The researchers believe the discovery will enhance our understanding of the prehistoric environment.

As these fossils were found beneath a lake, small invertebrates including fossilised insects and plant matter have been preserved.

Geologists examine an exposure of sediments. The researchers believe the discovery will enhance our understanding of the prehistoric environment

Scientists believe that so many remains were found there because animals had gravitated towards the lake to drink water.

Other ice age fossil sites have tended to be on the sites of former tar pits, where trapped animals died.

Dr Johnson said: 'Mammoths and mastodons are hardly ever found together on a single site as they lived in very different environments, so here we must have seen a change in the ecosystem around the lake.

'We are seeing two distinct ice age environments - the first was when the lake was fairly deep and had a lot of open water... but then later it seems to have become a marsh and it is in the sediment from this period that we are finding the mammoths.

'It shows this was far from being a frozen ice covered wasteland.'

Accidental find: The remains were discovered in October by contractors preparing to build a new dam at the reservoir near Snowmass Village, which is located on a plateau some 8,870ft above sea level



