Archaelogical Dig for Ice Age Mammoth Bones! Update 8.7.10

The Yakima Valley is the site of the Wenas Creek Mammoth Project, a scientific dig for Ice Age Mammoth bones near Selah, Washington. Update 8.7.2010

Last day to view the dig was August 7,2010. Video below is explanation of findings and talk on the opportunity that was offered to those wanting to view the dig.




Visitors to the Museum of Culture & Environment, Dean Hall, on the CWU campus, can see some of the finds of the project. The exhibit is open to the public during campus building hours Monday-Friday 8am-5pm, and while the museum gallery is open Wednesday-Friday 2pm-6pm and Saturday 10am-3pm.



The Mammoth dig was conducted by Central Washington University, with methods from paleontology, archeology, and geography, to scientifically recover the bones and place them into an appropriate geological context. This interesting and perhaps once in a lifetime experience, was open for public tours, Tuesday through Saturday, July 13-August 7, 2010. On these tours one saw how the bones are found and excavated from the site. These guided tours occured every 30 minutes Tuesday-Saturday from 9-2 p.m. with the last one starts at 1:30. Bring water, sunscreen and sturdy shoes for walking as the site conditions are hot, dry and dusty.





There is an online web cam that will be available for viewing the dig in action. This dig is on private property and only accessible during the dates for the public tours.

Discover Dinosaurs & Mammoths in the Yakima Valley!?!

After 65 Million Years They’re Back! Walking with Dinosaurs the arena spectacular is making a thundering comeback! Staggeringly realistic, a must see theatrical event for all ages. The terror of ancient terrain, 15 life size dinosaurs, and Tyrannosaurus Rex! Watch them walk! Hear them Roar! At the Yakima SunDome April 24-26.

Playing with Dinosaurs! Children in the Yakima Valley know that dinosaurs can be found in Granger, a city whose slogan is “Where Dinosaurs Roam!” These Dinosaurs are concrete over steel frames and wire mesh, placed in a playground setting. Building dinosaurs in Granger began in 1994. The first to be built was a Brontosaurus, then Tyrannosaurus Rex, a Triceratops, and Pterosaurs, which can be found in the middle of Grangers’ manmade pond. A dozen species of dinosaurs are now an attraction for families from all over the Yakima Valley and beyond. Children can climb on the dinosaurs, picnic, play, and imagine they hear a roar, all in the park like setting.

Yakima Valley Museum Miocene Forest Exhibits: This unique exhibit features a glimpse of prehistoric Yakima. The Miocene Forest exhibit in the Helen N. Jewett Basalt Gallery features 15-million-year-old-trees, unearthed from a ridge in the Yakima Valley and reconstructed inside the museum. A mural depicting Yakima during the Miocene era surrounds the trees and visitors can examine polished cross-sections of different types of petrified hardwoods.

When dinosaurs roamed the earth, Yakima was underwater, a bay of the Pacific Ocean. The Time Tunnel at the Yakima Valley Museum provides a glimpse of the Yakima Valley 10,000 to 25 million years ago, more recent than the era dinosaurs lived on the earth. This was when our present local landscape was formed in a drama of lava flows and great glacial floods. Fossils hidden beneath our feet help reveal the unique animals which lived in the Yakima Valley during those years; mastodons, mammoths, giant camels, tiny horses, huge bison, and even a giant ground sloth

Wenas Creek Mammoth Project- Did you know that the Yakima Valley is home to a fascinating mammoth dig. Central Washington University (CWU) is conducting a scientific investigation of mammoth bones found on private land in the Wenas Creek Valley near Selah, Washington. The investigation is interdisciplinary, using methods from paleontology, archaeology, and geography. The goal of the project is careful scientific recovery of bones and associated artifacts, while placing the finds into appropriate context of physical geography. The project includes summer excavations offered as field schools, public site tours, presentations, and volunteer opportunities.
The dig in Selah, WA is open for tours from July 14 to August 8 Tuesday – Saturday 9 am -2 pm last tour starts at 1:30 a live cam of the dig can be seen at the site.