WILMINGTON, Ill. (AP) - Visitors to Illinois’ Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie may now see bones and teeth of some of the animals that roamed the area thousands of years ago.
A new exhibit at the U.S. Forest Service site features pre-historic bison bones and the tooth of a giant mastodon. Both were discovered near Midewin, located about 60 miles (96 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.
The bison bones were found in 1902 when a local farmer was digging around a spring-fed bog to expand the well for his cattle to drink from. Scientists determined the bones likely to be between 200 and 4,400 years old.
Midewin Archaeologist Joe Wheeler is chief curator of the exhibit. He says helping the public to understand what was on the land years ago will help efforts to preserve it.
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