Review: My first-ever paleontology dig at The Mammoth Site

Jodee Blanco excavating at The Mammoth Site. Image courtesy of the author.

Volunteering for The Mammoth Site's Ice Age Explorers week was one of the most exhilarating and rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. I first heard about this magical destination through Ancient Odysseys, a wonderful woman-owned travel company specializing in paleontological and archaeological dig trips. The owner and CEO, Marisa takes travel to the next level while keeping it affordable. She raved about The Mammoth Site, and I’m grateful to her for facilitating this once in a lifetime adventure.

I’ve always loved fossils, to the point that it’s challenging to drive any significant distance without wanting to stop and look for them whenever I see a creek or a ravine. Most people take potty breaks on a road trip.  I take bone breaks. Fossil lovers have vivid imaginations but nothing I could have conjured in my head even came close to the giddiness I felt participating in the Ice Age Explorers program.

Let me set the scene. First, the site itself takes your breath away. The museum is constructed over a rare paleontological wonder: more than a quarter of a million years ago, dozens of mammoths were trapped and died in a sinkhole that was once filled with water. An active dig site, the remains of these magnificent creatures are revealing a story that continues to unfold. Enormous bones and tusks lie eerily still, some jutting from the ground, and you can almost feel the spirit of these prehistoric giants as they struggled to save themselves. The energy of their presence remains there--palpable and powerful. I found myself choked up more than once, envisioning their final moments while marveling at how much their fossils can teach us.

The Mammoth Site Bonebed. Image courtesy of Jodee Blanco

It’s hard to describe what it was like taking it all in. It was something out of a Spielberg movie.  Even more remarkable was the access we volunteers had to the paleontologists who run the site.  These are world class scientists, superstars in their field, and you have the privilege of working with them side by side. They share meals with you, earnestly engaging in conversations so scintillating that you want to freeze frame the moment so you can hold onto it forever.   

Volunteers are rotated by task.  We were each are given time in the bone bed and trained how to dig so as not to damage or disturb any fossils. We were also put on sifting duty, meticulously pouring through piles of dirt and debris from the bone bed and various other digs the museum is involved in, looking for small bones—I discovered pieces of mammoth bone, a long extinct species of rodent from a cave site and other fascinating finds. 

Sieving material at The Mammoth Site. Image courtesy of Jodee Blanco

Another favorite aspect of the week was working in the lab! What I loved most about the lab was being able to develop an intimate understanding of each bone during the preparation process.  I was given a five-thousand-year-old extinct species of bison bone to clean and prepare so that it could be added to the museum’s collection for future research.  The bone—a section of the animal’s vertebrae—came from a fossil site discovered by a rancher while working his land.  Preparing that bone, I imagined this majestic animal vibrant and alive roaming under a vast blue sky while across the globe, the first pharaoh was ruling over Egypt and Greece was transitioning from the Bronze to the Minoan age. As I write these words, I have goosebumps.

Volunteers also spent time looking for micro-fossils. The dirt that we sifted earlier in the day, we then had to look through again, but this time, with a powerful microscope.  It was astonishing how dozens of tiny bones, undetectable to the naked eye, became so beautiful and brilliant once magnified.  It was a whole different kind of treasure hunting and every time one of us spotted something and gently extracted it with tweezers, there was a hush of excitement in the room. 

The finest part of the trip was the camaraderie and how genuinely the museum staff valued our being there.  These people not only went out of their way to make sure we had a meaningful experience, but they also gave generously of their time, energy, attention and exuberance.  Dr. Chris Jass, a Quaternary specialist whose passion for the Ice Age is contagious, regaled us with stories from the field that had all of us leaning in wanting more.  His colleague and mentor Dr. Jim Mead, one of the first paleontologists to examine the site when a construction crew unearthed it over fifty years ago and who played a key role in the museum’s creation, spent hours with us, delighting in our curiosity. The rest of the team—Jim’s wife Sandy Swift, museum CEO Presston Gabel who left corporate America to dedicate his talent to this extraordinary place, Kelly Lubbers, Grace Self, Jarret Weimer, Seth Vandenberg, and so many others—the interns and gift shop staff, everyone there, made us feel like family.  

Lastly, the group of volunteers with whom I had the privilege of sharing this unforgettable week represented an intriguing and eclectic cross-section of interests and accomplishments from an attorney and an entomologist to an aerospace engineer.  One of the volunteers, an IT specialist, traveled from the U.K. to join us.

I could go on and on about this experience.  All I can say is that if you’ve ever wanted an adventure that deepens the soul, ignites the mind and awakens the explorer within, stop what you’re doing right now, book yourself a spot at The Mammoth Site and tell them Marisa from Ancient Odysseys and Jodee sent you.  

About the author: Jodee Blanco is a New York Times bestselling author, speaker and founder of INJJA (It’s NOT Just Joking Around!), the first survivor-led anti-bullying program in the country.  When she isn’t presenting in schools, she can be found looking for fossils somewhere.