Laura Decook, a member on the Mahaska County Conservation Board, is thrilled to work on the dig. “It’s fascinating to see that ancient history in Iowa is right below our feet,” she says. “It tells us a lot about what earth was like right here 16,000 years ago.” Thanks to the bones, scientists now believe that around 16,000 years ago, the climate of the rural Iowa town was similar to that of southern Canada today, and that Mahaska County was populated by fir and spruce trees. It is believed that the mammoths may have lived nearby because of a ‘plunge pool,’ a deep pool of water that exists under a waterfall. In 2010, flooding brought the bones back up.

While the ancient findings are priceless, they belong completely to the anonymous landowner, who has allowed conservationists to work on his property. He says that ultimately the bones should be kept in Mahaska County to be used educationally.