13,000-Year-Old Mastodon Bones Unearthed in Michigan to Be Showcased

Dinosaur bones that were found in West Michigan several years ago will soon be on display at the Grand Rapids Public Museum.

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Back in 2022, a Kent County Road Crew was replacing a culvert near the Clapp family's property near 22 mile in Kent City when they found a 3ft bone that ended up belonging to a Mastodon.

The work immediately stopped and a team of archaeologists started excavating the site and were able to find around 80% of the young male mastodon skeleton.

The bones are believed to be almost 13,000 years old!

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Researchers were able to find around 30 bones in total and had to very slowly and carefully put them through a process that fully dried them out.

The bones were very old but had not been in the ground long enough to actually form into fossils.

If they didn't dry them out fully they might end up becoming brittle and possibly break.

Now that the bones are preserved, they will soon be making their way back to the Grand Rapids Public Museum.

Mastodon Display Coming To Grand Rapids Public Museum

GRPM Director of Public Programs Rob Schuitema shared with Wood TV that a new exhibit will be coming this fall and will feature the Clapp Family Mastodon bones:

“We’re gearing up for a new exhibit related to the mastodon that we helped unearth a few years ago, That’s being installed here shortly and will be up soon.”

An official opening date hasn't been set yet but you can stay up to date with everything happening at the GRPM website.