Would you give away an ice age mammoth tusk?
Feb 14, 2014, 1:33 PM | Updated: Feb 15, 2014, 8:43 am
A fossilized mammoth tusk discovered in a Seattle construction site was retrieved Friday evening from a 30-foot-deep pit.
Scientists and construction crews used a crane to retrieve and hoist the tusk, which was placed on a pallet, encased in plaster and covered in blankets, to a waiting flat-bed truck. The tusk headed to its new home a few miles away at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture on the University of Washington’s Seattle campus, where it will be preserved, studied and eventually put on display.
The fossilized tusk was discovered Tuesday during excavation at a new apartment complex underway in the Cascade neighborhood.
Property owners AMLI Residential agreed to give the tusk to the Burke Museum following its discovery.
After seeing some other tusks advertised for sale on the Internet for over $400,000, KIRO Radio’s Ron Upshaw from the Ron and Don Show isn’t so sure he’d be as willing as the developers to simply give it away.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
