A man and his sons uncovered mammoth bones while digging in their backyard, and have now enlisted the help of archeologists in hopes of finding a full skeleton.
An Iowa family was digging in their backyard when they came across what they at first believed to be an old bowling ball. However after digging further around the object, that family soon discovered that the said bowling ball was actually a massive bone.
"I got down on my hands and knees on the bank and I could see a marrow line around the edge of this and I said boys, that's a bone, that's a really big bone," John told ABC 5.
Excited about the find, the family decided to make space in the living room and keep the bone on display, where it has remained for the past two years. Recently however, the family decided that it was time for the secret to come out. In hopes of finding more backyard bones, they family reached out to archeologists and reported their discovery.
"The size of this discovery is quite uncommon," Sarah Horgen, the museum's education coordinator, told ABC News. "It's pretty exciting-– partially because the mammoth is being discovered where it died. And we know that because we're finding very large bones right alongside very small bones."
The bone was not identified to be that of a mammoth until archeologist became involved, and since then the mammoth's vertebrae and ribs have also been unearthed. The bones are estimated to be approximately 12,000 years old and were found nearly ten feet underground, which has preserved them in a good condition.
While the find has excited archeologists at the University of Iowa, who have reported that it is rare to find such a large number of bones all in the same location, the ultimate decision of what will happen to the bones will go to John because they were found on his property.