Ancient ivory and mammoth bones revise human settlement of the New World by 100,000 years.

Oh my God,” Richard Cerutti said to himself. He bent down to pick up a sharp, splintered bone fragment. Its thickness and weight told him that it belonged to an animal, a very big animal. His mind started to race.

He was standing at the foot of a slope being groomed by Caltrans for a road-widening project through the Sweetwater Valley near National City.

Earthmoving equipment had already uncovered other fossils from elsewhere on the site, mostly rodents, birds and lizards. But this bone was from no ordinary animal. The operator wanted to keep digging, but Cerutti raised a fist to stop him. He felt a tightening knot of anger.

To read more on the LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-cerutti-mastodon-20171222-htmlstory.html

William Stout / San Diego Natural History Museum

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