Most kids have the daydream of digging in the front yard and discovering pirate treasure or the remains of a dinosaur. Heck, even some adults still hold onto that image. For one farmer in rural Michigan, that is exactly what happened!

Farmer James Bristle was working on planting soy beans when he discovered a crop of wood fragments. As he continued to drain the water from a portion of his field, it became clear that the “wood” was actually bone.

After contacting the University of Michigan, an excavation got underway, recovering about 20% of the skeleton, most importantly the head, tusks, ribs and several vertebrae, all parts that could offer a monumental amount of information on the mammoth’s history. 30 mammoths have been found in Michigan, but precious few have been uncovered in such excellent shape, and so comprehensive. It should be exciting to see what comes from this discovery.