Mammoth Bones Discovered Under Oregon State University's Football Field

Any time there's construction, you're likely to unearth a few things. You know, an old watch, a lava lamp from the 90's, or perhaps even buried treasure. But what you don't expect to find--even on the most unordinary of days--is a pile of mammoth bones. And yet that's exactly what happened at the University of Oregon State when construction crews began digging in the north end zone in Reser Stadium on Monday (their football field).

There was a femur bone that was deemed "likely" to be from a mammoth, as well as further discoveries of bones from several extinct mammals. The construction crew immediately halted their work in that area.

"There are quite a few bones, and dozens of pieces," said Loren Davis, an associate professor of anthropology at the University. "Some of the bones are not in very good shape, but some are actually quite well preserved."

And while the finding seems to be--at least, to people other than anthropologists--rather extraordinary, Davis explained that findings like this actually aren't' all too uncommon for the area.

"Animals who were sick would often go to a body of water and die there, so it's not unusual to find a group of bones like this," Davis said. "We had all of these types of animals in the Willamette Valley back then."

The crews were digging up that area of the end zone as part of a expansion project for the stadium, with the renovations slated to be complete by the beginning of the 2016 season. Fortunately, as of yet, the delays have been minimal as the crew simply moved to another area of construction while the experts closely examine the findings.

Davis will now attempt to preserve the findings, in the hope of being able to carbon date them at a later point to discover more about their age.