FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  April 18, 2007                                                                      
CONTACT:  Ronette Rumpca, (605) 773-6011, Ronette.Rumpca@state.sd.us

Mammoth Site program coming to Cultural Heritage Center

PIERRE, SD -- The South Dakota State Historical Society will hold three public programs focusing on South Dakota Places this spring.

Dr. Larry Agenbroad of the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs will present the first program on Saturday, April 22, at 2 p.m. The free program will be in the Education Room of the Cultural Heritage Center.

            The Mammoth Site is the world's largest Columbian mammoth exhibit and research center for Pleistocene studies. More than 26,000 years ago, large Columbian and woolly mammoths were trapped and died in a spring-fed pond near Hot Springs. Excavation work for a housing development uncovered the site in 1974. The fossil bones of Columbian and woolly mammoths are found scattered throughout the sinkhole. The bones are displayed as they were discovered as an "in-situ" exhibit. Fifty-five mammoths have been identified in the sinkhole. The remains of a giant short-faced bear, camel, llama, prairie dog, wolf, fish, and numerous invertebrates have also been found. A climate-controlled building protects the sinkhole.

            Agenbroad was appointed Mammoth Site principal investigator in 1974.

 In 1999, he was invited to be the only American scientist on an international team to excavate and airlift a 23-ton block of permafrost containing the remains of a woolly mammoth from the tundra of northern Siberia. This endeavor was made popular by the Discovery Channel television special "Raising the Mammoth". Agenbroad is an emeritus Professor of Geology and Paleontology at Northern Arizona University.

            Two other programs on South Dakota Places scheduled for this spring will be a presentation on the history of Fort Sisseton, an early military fort in the northeast part of the state, on Saturday, April 29; and a program on the D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery in Spearfish on Saturday, May 6.

            South Dakota Places is also the topic for the historical society’s newest education kit. The kit covers a variety of places that make South Dakota unique such as Mt. Rushmore, the Corn Palace, De Smet (the “Little Town on the Prairie”) and the Badlands. The kit also contains information about national wildlife refuges and grasslands, the glacial lakes, the Missouri River and animal habitats. Hands-on items in the kit include a replica mammoth tooth, a petrified wood sample, a black-footed ferret figurine, a model of Crazy Horse Memorial, and over 40 photographs.

Using the kit, students can use mapping and math skills to plan a road trip, compare different types of maps, identify SD symbols, and create a flour fish print. South Dakota Places has already been used by schools in Rosholt and Timber Lake and is scheduled to go to Veblen, Wilmot, and the South Dakota School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

There are also 10 other education kits on a variety of topics available from the historical society. Cost for the kits is $20 for a two-week rental, plus return mailing costs. To learn more about the education kits or to schedule a kit, contact Ronette Rumpca, Curator of Interpretation for the State Historical Society, at 605-773-6011, email ronette.rumpca@state.sd.us.

            The museum in the Cultural Heritage Center is open 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1-4:30 p.m. on Sundays and most holidays. Call (605) 773-3458 for more information or visit www.sdhistory.org.