Almost Complete Skeleton Of Chelsea Woolly Mammoth Found By Michigan Farmer

When a Michigan farmer James Bristle was digging around in his soy field, he hit upon the remains of an ancient woolly mammoth. At first he thought he had hit a bent fence post, but was later surprised to find the part of a woolly mammoth, CBS Detroit reported.

"It was probably a rib bone that came up," he told Ann Arbor News.

It was an amazing find of a woolly mammoth that had died about 11,000 and 15,000 years ago, according to University of Michigan professor Daniel Fisher, who was contacted by the farmer Bristle about the discovery.

The professor noted that while only 10 spots in Michigan have mammoth skeletons, this one discovered by Bristle in Lima Township, Chelsea, was "quite intact", as just the hind limbs, feet and some body parts were missing.

"We extracted this very nice skull and tusks and we found the jaw of the animal, various ribs and vertebra," Fisher said, according to CBS Detroit.

The beast was 40 years old, and Fisher speculated that humans must have butchered and thrown it in a pond so that they could store the meat and return later for it.

"It turns out we are dealing with carcass parts of animals, in some cases hunted, in other cases maybe not, but in any event, butchered by ancient humans, what we call Paleo-Indians -- people who lived in North America about 12,000 to 13,000 years ago," Fisher said.

Fisher and his team began to dig out the remains of the mammoth. They were putting in twice the time needed as Fisher could just give a day for the task. The skeleton was important as it gave some insight into when humans first stepped into the American continents.