Remarkably well preserved ice age remains like those discovered recently in a yard near Scotchtown, N.Y., are rare — but not as rare as you might think.
A married couple arrived in Cory Harris’s office in late September, carrying a plain cardboard box about the size of a dictionary. They were excited to open it, and to show Dr. Harris the amazing things inside.
Dr. Harris felt a sense of dread, and he prepared to deliver bad news.
“More often than not, it’s a weird rock,” said Dr. Harris, an archaeologist and chair of the behavioral sciences department at SUNY’s Orange County Community College. “You disappoint people, because they thought it was something really cool. And it’s not.”
The box was opened. What he saw inside — two yellowed teeth from a long-dead mastodon — stirred in Dr. Harris a thrill he hadn’t felt in years.
“I was crazy excited,” said Dr. Harris, 50, who has worked in archaeology for nearly 30 years. “It was the same old-school excitement I felt when I got into this field in the first place.”
The discovery of the remarkably well preserved mastodon jaw was announced Tuesday by the New York State Department of Education, which runs the New York State Museum, where scientists are studying the artifact. Fearful that their home near Scotchtown, N.Y., would be overrun by news crews or treasure hunters, the couple declined to be named or interviewed for this article.
According to Dr. Harris, the mastodon jaw was discovered when the couple noticed something poking out of the grass in their backyard.