A mammoth find – tusk found in 1959 offers clues to the past
A mammoth find – tusk found in 1959 offers clues to the past
By Lucas Knowles
Editor
The recent discovery of what appears to be a prehistoric tusk found by a fisherman off the coast of Maine may be the second find of its kind in the state. The first happened more than 40 years ago in Scarborough.
James Littlejohn, Jr. and his son Bill were digging a pond on their property in North Scarborough in 1959 when they came upon something they knew came from thousands of years before.
We knew it was something prehistoric, but beyond that, we had no idea,” Janice Littlejohn, who was married to Bill at the time, said.
It turns out that the Littlejohns had found mammoth tusk in their own backyard.
The tusk was found buried in a layer of marine clay, along with other bones and some tiny clam shells.
“They had brought in a backhoe to help with the digging and when they stopped, they could see the shape of a tusk with the point broken off,” Janice Littlejohn said.
After the tusk was found, there was no certainty as to where it came from. There even was a rumor that the tusk belonged to a circus elephant.
After being held on by the family for a time, the tusk was given to the Portland Society of Natural History. After that organization was disbanded in 1971, the tusk made its way up to the University of Maine at Presque Isle, where it stayed until Gary Hoyle, a former natural history curator at the Maine State Museum, discovered the tusks and wanted to use it for an exhibit he was planning.
The tusk then became the property of the Maine State Museum for its exhibit “12,000 Years in Maine.” It was sent to the University of Michigan where Daniel Fisher, an expert on mammoths and other prehistoric animals, examined it. He concluded that the tusk was from a female mammoth that was approximately 35 years old and roamed the land in Maine 12,000 years ago.
Dr. Paula Work, the curator of zoology at the Maine State Museum, said the tusk has helped historians and scientists with building a timeline for when animals like mammoths were present in Maine and when glaciers began to move away from the land in Maine.
“Anytime you find the remains of an animal, it can tell you a lot about the environment it was living in,” Work said. “It can tell you about the landscape during that particular point in time.”
It is believed that mammoths came to North America by crossing the Bering Land Bridge from Russia to what is now Alaska. They migrated into the western and southern United States, but could not come to the northeast until glaciers began to retreat. Mammoths are commonly referred to as ancestors of present-day elephants.
Work said that when glaciers retreated, the land was made up of clay, rock and debris left behind. She said the tusk’s discovery also helps to show when humans began to populate Maine, because, as she said, “when glaciers retreated and mammoths and other animals came, people followed.”
A cast of the tusk is now on display at the Maine State Museum because the original needed to be split for research.
Janice Littlejohn has a collection of slides and clippings related to the tusk and has given people information on the find for decades.
“There is quite a lot of story about (the tusk),” she said.
By Lucas Knowles
Editor
The recent discovery of what appears to be a prehistoric tusk found by a fisherman off the coast of Maine may be the second find of its kind in the state. The first happened more than 40 years ago in Scarborough.
James Littlejohn, Jr. and his son Bill were digging a pond on their property in North Scarborough in 1959 when they came upon something they knew came from thousands of years before.
We knew it was something prehistoric, but beyond that, we had no idea,” Janice Littlejohn, who was married to Bill at the time, said.
It turns out that the Littlejohns had found mammoth tusk in their own backyard.
The tusk was found buried in a layer of marine clay, along with other bones and some tiny clam shells.
“They had brought in a backhoe to help with the digging and when they stopped, they could see the shape of a tusk with the point broken off,” Janice Littlejohn said.
After the tusk was found, there was no certainty as to where it came from. There even was a rumor that the tusk belonged to a circus elephant.
After being held on by the family for a time, the tusk was given to the Portland Society of Natural History. After that organization was disbanded in 1971, the tusk made its way up to the University of Maine at Presque Isle, where it stayed until Gary Hoyle, a former natural history curator at the Maine State Museum, discovered the tusks and wanted to use it for an exhibit he was planning.
The tusk then became the property of the Maine State Museum for its exhibit “12,000 Years in Maine.” It was sent to the University of Michigan where Daniel Fisher, an expert on mammoths and other prehistoric animals, examined it. He concluded that the tusk was from a female mammoth that was approximately 35 years old and roamed the land in Maine 12,000 years ago.
Dr. Paula Work, the curator of zoology at the Maine State Museum, said the tusk has helped historians and scientists with building a timeline for when animals like mammoths were present in Maine and when glaciers began to move away from the land in Maine.
“Anytime you find the remains of an animal, it can tell you a lot about the environment it was living in,” Work said. “It can tell you about the landscape during that particular point in time.”
It is believed that mammoths came to North America by crossing the Bering Land Bridge from Russia to what is now Alaska. They migrated into the western and southern United States, but could not come to the northeast until glaciers began to retreat. Mammoths are commonly referred to as ancestors of present-day elephants.
Work said that when glaciers retreated, the land was made up of clay, rock and debris left behind. She said the tusk’s discovery also helps to show when humans began to populate Maine, because, as she said, “when glaciers retreated and mammoths and other animals came, people followed.”
A cast of the tusk is now on display at the Maine State Museum because the original needed to be split for research.
Janice Littlejohn has a collection of slides and clippings related to the tusk and has given people information on the find for decades.
“There is quite a lot of story about (the tusk),” she said.
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