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Dr. Joe Sertich holds a large mammoth humerus from the dig of Ice Age fossils near Snowmass Village. Courtesy of Denver Museum of Nature & Science
If you didn't get over to Snowmass when archaeologists, paleontologists and other scientists and volunteers were digging up the fossils of mammoths, mastodons and other extinct beasts, you can get up to speed Wednesday night on TV.
“Ice Age Death Trap,” a documentary about the amazing dig for fossils near Snowmass Village, premieres at 8 p.m. Wednesday on NOVA.
The TV special follows scientists as they race against time to uncover the astonishingly large number of well-preserved fossils, "opening a vivid window into the vanished world of the Ice Age," according to a new release.
In October 2010, a bulldozer operator working near Snowmass uncovered the tusk of a young female mammoth. A bit of poking around revealed there were many more fossils to be found. Over the next 10 months, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science conducted its largest-ever excavation, yielding a treasure trove of well-preserved Ice Age fossils. Museum crews uncovered 5,000 bones of 41 kinds of Ice Age animals, including mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths, camels, deer, horses, and giant bison.
It is one of the most significant fossil discoveries ever made in Colorado. The treasures are being preserved and catalogued at the museum and parts of the find have been on display. To learn more, visit the museum's special web pages dedicated to the fossils: www.dmns.org/science/the-snowmastodon-project.
The documentary also serves as a primer for "Digging Snowmastodon," a book to be published in March by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and Aspen-based People’s Press.
Co-authored by Kirk Johnson and Ian Miller, "Digging Snowmastodon" describes the events surrounding the discovery, the excitement and emotion of the dig itself, and the colorful cast of characters who assisted each step of the process.
The book will be available at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science for $19.95 in mid-March. Or you can order a copy online.
A brief article about the dig appears in the February issue of National Geographic magazine.
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