Dent site facts for kids
The Dent site is a very important archaeological site located in Weld County, Colorado, near Milliken, Colorado. It's famous because it showed that humans and huge animals called mammoths lived at the same time in the Americas. This site dates back to the Clovis culture, which was around 11,000 years ago. The site is found on a flat area next to the South Platte River.
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Discovery of the Site
The Dent site was discovered in 1932. It was near a railroad station called Dent. After heavy spring rains in April 1932, a railroad foreman named Frank Garner noticed some very large animal bones. They were sticking out of a deep ditch near the railroad tracks.
Word of this amazing discovery reached a geology professor named Father Conrad Bilgery from Regis College. In September 1932, Father Bilgery and his students started digging. They quickly realized the bones belonged to a mammoth. He then told Jesse Figgins, a curator from the Colorado Museum of Natural History (now the Denver Museum of Nature & Science), about the find.
Museum staff and volunteers continued the digging in 1933. The first special stone tool, a Clovis point, was found at the Dent site on November 5, 1932. Another Clovis point was found right next to the mammoth bones on July 7, 1933. This was a big deal because it showed these tools were used to hunt the mammoths.
Important Discoveries
About the Clovis Culture
The Clovis culture was a group of ancient people who lived in North America about 13,300 to 12,900 years ago. They were known for using special stone tools called projectile points for hunting. Before the Clovis people, other early humans in Asia used simpler tools like large axes and scrapers.
The Clovis point was different. It was the first time people made large, symmetrical, and fluted (grooved) spear points. These points were very effective for hunting large animals.
Mammoth Bones and Tools
At the Dent site, scientists found both mammoth bones and these unique Clovis points together in 1932. This discovery was very important for a few reasons:
- The projectile points found were larger than other known ancient tools, like the Folsom points.
- It was one of the first clear pieces of evidence that humans and mammoths lived together in the Americas. This proved that early people hunted these giant animals.
Scientists later learned that the mammoths killed at Dent were not part of a single family group. They were also not related to mammoths found at other Clovis sites, like those in New Mexico or Texas.
Digging Up the Past
Many different groups of scientists have worked at the Dent site over the years to learn more about its history. Here's a look at some of the main excavations:
| Year | Who was in charge | Organization | What they found | Interesting facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1932 | Father Conrad Bilgery | Regis University | Bones of Columbian mammoths and stone tools later called Clovis points. | Father Bilgery was told about the bones and started the first dig. |
| 1933 | Jesse Dade (J.D.) Figgins | Denver Museum of Natural History | At least 12 mammoths, mostly young or female. | Figgins was known as an "Early Man expert" from his work at another important site. |
| 1973 | Joe Ben Wheat, Marie Wormington, Frank Frazier, Vance Haynes | University of Colorado | A total of 15 mammoths were found. | They used carbon dating to find the age: about 11,200 years old. |
| 1987 | Robert Brunswig, Jr. | University of Northern Colorado | A total of 15 mammoths (10 young, 5 adults) with signs they were butchered. | More carbon dating was done, showing the site was about 10,590 to 10,950 years old. They think the mammoths were killed in the fall. |
