Uncovered bones are a hot find from the Ice Age

Star Tribune ^ | Monday, February 16, 2009 | Richard Meryhew

[SunkenCiv]

John Ackerman wasn't looking to dig up history as he crept through the cold, wet southern Minnesota cave that spring afternoon in 2008. A longtime caver, the 54-year-old Farmington man simply wanted to dig out some sediment to see where a newly discovered side passage might lead. But the prehistoric stag moose antler he and two friends unearthed that day and a saber-tooth cat skull they found two months later may be the most significant paleontological discoveries in the Upper Midwest in years. Scientists say the fossils are the first of their kind discovered in Minnesota, meaning that both ice-age mammals, long extinct, ventured farther north than previously thought... In more than 25 years of searching the caves, Ackerman said, he and his friends "never unearthed anything." But as the group dug through a pile of clay blocking a side passage, they unearthed what looked to be a leg to an old stove... "I thought it had to be elk," Mather said, recalling his first reaction... radiocarbon dating on the cat skull has shown that it is about 22,500 years old... Two bones, located a mile and a half from the spot where the saber-tooth skull was found, also appear to be from a big cat, Ackerman said... There are ''miles and miles of cave passages'' yet to explore, Ackerman said. He and some friends discovered a new section just last weekend.

[SunkenCiv]

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[Hoosier-Daddy]

Global Warming...

[allmost]

That’s pretty cool. Digging on your property. Find something weird. Scratch your head..., but don’t feel so stupid after it’s determined to be 22,500 years old.

[cripplecreek]

I’m a little surprised to find that there are caves in Minnesota. I always thought that caves were generally found south of the furthest advance of glaciers.

[blam]

22,500 years ago was during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and one of the coldest times during the Ice Age.

[ApplegateRanch]

I’m a little surprised to find that there are caves in Minnesota.

Anyplace there is lots of limestone/karst. And some other places, too. ;)

We've visited this Minnesota “show cave”:

http://www.niagaracave.com/default.asp

These Minnesota caves we haven't seen:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Water_Spring_State_Preserve & related http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Valley_Caverns

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carver%27s_Cave

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/forestville_mystery_cave/index.html

...and a non-limestone Minnesota cave we haven't visited:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabasha_Street_Caves

And a non-limestone cave we did visit:

http://www.nps.gov/orca/

“Oregon Caves National Monument offers family focused opportunities to explore a marble cave,...”

[Sacajaweau]

btt

[GoLightly]

Caver? Spelunker!

[SunkenCiv]

Trekker? Trekkie! ;’)