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  • Archaeologist Lee Bement believed this fossil, found along the bank of Lake Vincent, to either be a camel or Palaeolama and date back close to a million years.

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March 13, 2010

Archaeologist discusses discoveries

Jenah Kastelic Woodward News

Woodward, Okla. — The teeth from a baby mammoth and dinosaur gastrolith stones were among artifacts identified during the annual Ask the Archaeologist a program held this weekend at the Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum.

On Saturday, Dr. Lee Bement, from the Oklahoma Archeological Survey, identified dozens of objects that were brought in by the public.  Typical fossils, meteorites and arrowheads made up the majority of what people brought in, but items worthy of being displayed in a museum came through as well.

Linda Schwinn’s instincts were right about the fossil animal skull her husband found implanted in the embankment of Lake Vincent in Ellis County.  Bement believed the skull to be either a camel or Palaeolama and dates back close to a million years.

Also among the day's epiphanies were fossilized clams, ivory mammoth tusks and a large ball bearing which Bement said may have come from a train.  But many people were told what they thought to be a fossil, bone or meteorite was in fact a common ironstone concretion.

After the program, Bement commented on the wide-range of items that were brought in including an 11,000-year-old Clovis spear point.   He said the point was the oldest Indian material he saw that day, and the piece is one of the most sought after type of points.

Bement is involved with the study of the 10,000-year-old Cooper Bison kill site, as well as many other sites in northwest Oklahoma.  He enjoys meeting people from the area that he does the majority of his research.

This is the sixth year for the Bement to partner with the program in Woodward, and he plans to keep returning.  

He said, “learning what other people are finding in the area helps me with my research, and at the same time people get to find out about things they’ve found.”

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