Oregon State construction crew unearths 10,000-year-old bones

ByABC News
January 26, 2016, 9:00 PM

— -- Prehistoric bones believed to have belonged to a mammoth have been unearthed during construction at  Oregon State's football stadium, according to a report by the Corvallis Gazette-Times

Construction crews made the discovery Monday while excavating the site of the Valley Football Center expansion project at Reser Stadium in Corvallis.

"We believe we have an intact femur from a mammoth," OSU spokesman Steve Clark told the Gazette-Times on Tuesday. "There also appear to be bones from other species, including possibly a bison and a camel."

Deputy athletic director Mark Massari told the newspaper the bones were uncovered at the site of the football team's future locker room. 

At least one large bone was removed by a university archaeologist Tuesday, the Gazette-Times reported. 

An OSU professor who examined the bones estimated they are at least 10,000 years old, Clark said. 

The school said in a news release that Loren Davis, an associate professor of anthropology at Oregon State, was summoned to the site after the initial discovery was made.

"There are quite a few bones and dozens of pieces," Davis said. "Some of the bones are not in very good shape, but some are actually quite well preserved."