Hiscock Site

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The Hiscock Site is an archaeological site in Byron, Western New York, United States that has yielded many mastodon and paleo-Indian artifacts. It is currently in its 25th year of excavation.[1][2]

Mastodons roamed North America from the Tertiary period until about 10,000 years ago (Painting by Heinrich Harder ca. 1920)
Mastodons roamed North America from the Tertiary period until about 10,000 years ago (Painting by Heinrich Harder ca. 1920)

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Prehistoric 10,000 years ago

Originally around 10,000 years ago the site was covered by Lake Tonawanda which was a formed by runoff from the melting and receding glaciers.[3]


[edit] Accidental discovery 1959

In 1959 the Hiscock family, for which the site is named, took a backhoe and started excavation on a pond. While digging, the backhoe ripped a large tusk out of the ground. The Hiscocks contacted the Buffalo Museum of Science about the site. Time passed and the Buffalo Museum of Science seemed to show no interest in the site until the early 1980s.

[edit] First scientific excavation 1983

The first excavations of the site began in 1983 and yielded surprising specimens. Dr. Richard Laub, curator at the Buffalo Museum then formally introduced the site to the world in 1986. Since then the site has seen more than 200 volunteers internationally.

[edit] Present

In 2007 the site is part of the Alabama swamps.

[edit] Important finds

[edit] Prehistoric Mastodons

Drawing of a mastodon skeleton by Rembrandt Peale
Drawing of a mastodon skeleton by Rembrandt Peale

Mastodons are members of the prehistoric, extinct genus Mammut, they resemble modern elephants.

Native to North America they are said to have lived on the North American continent from almost 4 million years ago, in the the Tertiary period, until their eventual disappearance about 10,000 years ago.[4]

[edit] Mastodon fragments

Mastodon fragments such as large tusks, tusk tips, ivory, ankle bone, teeth, skull, and nural spine have been discovered in the excavations. The actual yield of tusks at the site is more than 13. Tusk tips of mastodons have proven after analysis that the mastodons would use their tusks to dig up sodium rich clay during the last great paleo-drought.

[edit] Paleo-Indian artifacts

Evidence of paleo-Indians has also been discovered at the site with flint knappings, stone tools and points.

[edit] See also

Richard Laub

[edit] References

  1. ^ Geology The Buffalo Museum of Science, Retrieved on 2007-12-05
  2. ^ Excavation pit at the Byron Dig The Buffalo Museum of Science, Retrieved on 2007-12-05
  3. ^ Ernest H. Muller (1977), LATE GLACIAL AND EARLY POSTGLACIAL ENVIRONMENTS IN WESTERN NEW YORK Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 288 (1), 223–233. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1977.tb33618.x
  4. ^ "Greek mastodon find 'spectacular'", BBC News, 24 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.