The Mammoth Site
More than sixty mammoths remain where they died inside a climate-controlled active paleontological dig.
Artwork inspired by Grace French
A steep-sided Pleistocene sinkhole trapped mostly male Columbian mammoths, preserving bones in spatial relationships that would disappear if removed into display cases. The enclosed excavation lets visitors see mapping, preparation, and interpretation as ongoing work.
Take the guided introduction before circling the dig edge, then compare articulated and scattered remains. This is paleontology rather than human archaeology; allow time for the laboratory windows and do not judge the site only by the largest skull.
Read more than 60 mammoths together with guided orientation, then slow dig-edge circuit. Their relationship gives The Mammoth Site a more specific identity than any single viewpoint or headline attraction.
- Deposit
- In-situ Pleistocene sinkhole
- Setting
- Hot Springs, South Dakota, United States
- Admission
- Paid admission
Quick guide
- Count
- More than 60 mammoths
- Best method
- Guided orientation, then slow dig-edge circuit
Read The Mammoth Site with purpose
- Count
- Begin with In-situ Pleistocene sinkhole; use more than 60 mammoths to define the central question for the rest of The Mammoth Site.
- Best method
- Within The Mammoth Site, compare More than 60 mammoths with Guided orientation.
- Deposit
- During a The Mammoth Site visit, find one feature, deposit, or interpretive panel that complicates In-situ Pleistocene sinkhole; the contradiction is more useful than another confirming highlight.
- Setting
- Before leaving The Mammoth Site, before leaving, connect In-situ Pleistocene sinkhole to Hot Springs, South Dakota, United States.
Good to know
Most mammoths trapped in this ancient sinkhole were young males, and leaving their bones in place lets researchers study deaths and movement that isolated specimens cannot show.
Notice these
- In-situ Pleistocene sinkhole
- More than 60 mammoths
- Guided orientation, then slow dig-edge circuit