Lauren ZimaAn ancient buried treasure — construction workers in Seattle just found what appears to be a fossil from the Ice Age.
Outlets are reporting in a deep pit, workers found a big fossil. Paleontologists say they're confident it's the tusk of a mammoth. (Via KOMO)
Yes — as local station KCPQ reports, the tusk could be about 10,000 years old. It was found 1.5 stories down and digging was halted right away.
The construction is being done on that spot to build a housing development.
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KING news in Seattle reports the person who owns the land technically owns the tusk. It's unclear right now what the plan will be — it could be excavated further and dug out.
Though that would have to be a very careful process — the tusk is brittle after thousands of years in the dirt. Experts say though, it's miraculous how well-preserved it is — the soil had to be just right.
The biggest type of mammoth could have been up to 15 feet tall and weighed more than 8 tons. Mammoths' tusks could reach 16 feet long. They did coexist with early humans, and lived, of course, during the Ice Age. (Via Animal Planet)
