geo000656 24

: side own-r Site mm’s :es of there /hich Also, Ldica-icted ite r’s ire of f the jably on to ars a 14th. ;e of This tone, bone ither ^ash. I side canyons being followed on foot when they became too narrow for the jeep. No charcoal was observed and bones were scarce. How­ever, the valley floor is badly eroded and there are m any small channels th at have not been checked. Exposures of charcoal and bone upstream (west) from Area 1 were much more plentiful and, in view of limited time and personnel, it was decided to concentrate on the western arroyos. The jeep reconnaissance began M ay 11 and continued as time permitted until the expedition broke camp on the 18th. During this survey the arroyos visited by H arrington and me in 1952 were re­located and mapped. No further bones had become exposed near the knoll we excavated (Survey Site 1). Shell and bone fragments were found in most of the arroyos Peck and I checked on foot. How­ever, this evidence was extremely fragm entary in most instances. Only in three other side canyons did scattered bones lead us to im ­portant outcrops of paleontological m aterial (Map 3, SS. 2-4). One yielded only bones, some of which have been identified as camel; one yielded a small amount of charcoal and numerous bones; one was a most im portant discovery: the remains of a m am m oth (Map 3, SS. 4). This was the last major excavation begun in 1955. The elephant was found late in the afternoon of M ay 12 when I saw a fragm ent of m am m oth rib in the m ain wash. Bone and tusk fragments became numerous as I walked up a narrow side arroyo. Coming around a bend I looked up and saw the crumbling tusk curving over the top of a knoll to the northwest. Several other bones were exposed by erosion on top of the knoll. All were left in place for photographic and mapping purposes. Excavation began in the m orning of M ay 13th. W hen it became evident that there were more bones buried in the clay. Rozaire began cutting trenches flanking the skeleton. H arrington was contacted and we were in­structed to continue excavation by cutting a profile along the southeast edge of the deposit, and b}’ clearing the surface to expose as m any bones as possible. By M ay 16 all-bones on the upper side of the m am m oth were uncovered (Fig. 30); seven feet of tusk were exposed; the interior surface of the skull was found imbedded in the clay at the bottom of a small erosion channel west of the tusk. The tip of the tusk and ends of most bones plunged into this tough clay. It was decided that further excavation w ith our equipment would only result in the destruction of the bones. H arrington returned on the 16th and on the 17th was taken to the m am m oth site. He agreed that further excavation should be undertaken only by a paleontologist. The bones were covered w ith newspapers and then w ith soil to protect them until further woi'k could be undertaken on a subsequent expedition. 65