A mammoth tusk fossil found by construction workers Tuesday goes back to the ice age.
The workers discovered the artifact while cultivating office space in Seattle's South Lake Union area at 528 Pontius Ave. local television station KIRO-TV reported Wednesday.
"Burke Museum paleontologists have examined the fossil and we are confident that it represents a tusk from an ice age mammoth," Christian Sidor curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture told KIRO-TV. "Because the fossil is on private property and does not seem to be associated with an archaeological site, it is up to the landowner to decide what they would like to do with the tusk," Sidor told KIRO-TV.
The fossil is still in the ground, and might be uncovered depending on the landlords wishes.
"The discovery of a mammoth tusk in South Lake Union is a rare opportunity to directly study Seattle's ancient natural history," Sidor told KIRO-TV. "As a public repository, the Burke Museum would be pleased curate the tusk and provide access to scientists and others wishing to study it." Sidor told KIRO-TV.
According to The Boston Herald, the elephant the tusk came from made its home in Washington 10,000 years ago.
The elephants came to North America from Asia two million years ago. Its counterpart, the mastodon resided in North America 9,000 to 15 million years ago The Seattle Times reported.
Larger mammoths developed to 12 feet at shoulders length. The elephants tusks rounded out as they hung from the face, before turning towards the sky The Times reported.
Scientists found another tusk in Eastern Oregon in October. Others have been found in the Pacific Northwest.
The species went out of existence 10,000 to 11,000 years ago because glaciers during the ice age diminished as the time period concluded The Times reported.
