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Media contacts: Kim Schuette: 614.297.2314 or kschuette@ohiohistory.org
For Immediate Release
Rare Ice Age Animal Dug up near Chippewa Lake in Medina County
(COLUMBUS, OH) - In early August, a backhoe operator got a big surprise while digging up clay on Ryan King's land near Medina. At about 16 feet deep, his equipment brought up the partial skull and some antler pieces of what looked like a giant moose.
Staff from the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus travelled to King’s property to examine the specimen and to see if more of the animal could be found. OHS Curator of Natural History Bob Glotzhober quickly recognized the skull and antlers as those of the extinct Stag-moose (Cervalces scotti) that is known from Ohio during the Pleistocene era or Ice Age. Glotzhober and OHS archaeologists Linda Pansing and Bill Pickard worked a long day to recover quite a few more bones and bone fragments.
This is only the ninth time the remains of a Stag-moose have been found in Ohio. Most of the previous finds have been limited to just a small handful of bones. Ryan King's specimen consists of 34 bones – mostly broken fragments – making it one of the more complete finds to date in Ohio. A female Stag-moose uncovered near Hartville in Stark County in 1987 remains the most complete specimen. It is on display at the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus.
"While this newly found skeleton is broken in many pieces and may not make much of an attractive show piece, it is very valuable to science," Glotzhober said. "We would hope to be able to obtain a carbon-14 date on the bones. Three of Ohio's eight other specimens have been dated, and register at 10,230, 11,840, and 11,990 years before present. This one came from by far the deepest known site, so it may be much older yet."
In addition to finding out the age of the Stag-moose, the skeleton also has some mysteries that need to be answered, according to Glotzhober. "All of the large leg bones show fractures that have been determined to have happened near the time of death. Were these caused by some huge predator, by glaciers still in the region, by early human hunters or something else?"
The bones are currently under a carefully controlled, slow-drying process in the OHS museum collections facility. As they become drier and more stabile, the Society hopes to examine them in more detail and perhaps find some clues that will help answer questions about the animal and how it died.
The Ohio Historical Society is a nonprofit organization that serves as the state’s partner in preserving and interpreting Ohio’s history, natural history and archaeology. For more information about its programs and collections, visit www.ohiohistory.org or call 614.297.2300/ 800.686.6124.
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