Finding the Dent Site

The Dent Site gets its namesake from its proximity to the Dent Railroad Depot, which has since been demolished. The depot provided storage and maintenance for the rail line in the area. The rail line was unknowingly constructed on the eroded Ice Age terrace remnants in the floodplain of the Platte River. In April 1932, heavy rains exposed the bones of a large animal which was noticed by Frank Garner, the railroad foreman. It was not long before news of the find reached Conrad Bilgery, a geology professor and Jesuit priest from Regis University in Denver. Bilgery conducted some excavations of the site, identified the bones as belonging to a mammoth before contacting Jesse Figgins, the paleontology curator at the Colorado Museum of Natural History.

What Was Found at the Dent Site?

Numerous excavations since the 1930s found evidence of at least 15 mammoths along with three Clovis stone tools. Evidence shows that this mammoth group was most likely a matriarchal family herd because the group consisted of an older adult female, four younger adult females, four adolescents, and four juveniles and infants. These bones were also found with cut and chop marks that were most likely made between when the animals were freshly killed and up to several weeks after death. The season of death was found to be in late fall to early winter, in which the meat was preserved due to the cool or freezing temperatures. However, more recent research on these artifacts is hampered due to the early dispersal of the original collection to various museums around the country.

Excavation and Research (60s-80s)

In 1963, scientists began attempting to radiocarbon date the mammoth bones found at the site. Research at the actual Dent Site resumed in 1973. Students from the University of Colorado and University of Arizona were supposed to further excavate the site but geological studies found that the rest of the bones were located under the adjacent active railroad tracks.

Modern Research and Interpretations

New scientific techniques now allow archaeologists to find more accurate radiocarbon dates and create better theories about what happened at the Dent site. For example, one 1991 study compiled all previous radiocarbon dates and tested them for accuracy. They found a consistent date of about 11,000 radiocarbon years before present (~9000BCE). In 2006, researchers conducted a more accurate radiocarbon test and pushed the date further back to over 12,500 years before present.

In addition, archaeologists continue to present new information based on new scientific techniques. In 2014, Brunswig and Pitblado published Frontiers in Colorado Paleoindian Archaeology, where they summarized this new evidence. In the modern day, most archaeologists agree that: humans killed and butchered mammoths at the site, though they disagree about the strength of the evidence.

Future of the Site

The site is currently in danger due to development from the nearby town of Milliken, CO. This website is meant to educate the public on the site and draw attention to it in hopes that it will be preserved and researched to better understand Colorado history.

For More Information:

https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/dent-site