Ice Age Forensics: Reconstructing the Death of a Wooly Bison

Chicago Shorts

by R. Dale Guthrie

Frozen mammals of the Ice Age, preserved for millennia in the tundra, have been a source of fascination and mystery since their first discovery over two centuries ago. The 1979 find of a frozen, extinct steppe bison in an Alaskan gold mine allowed paleontologist Dale Guthrie to undertake the first scientific excavation of an Ice Age mummy in North America and to test theories about these enigmatic frozen fauna. In this brilliant remaking of the death of a wooly bison over 36,000 years ago, we’re given a glimpse of what life was like during the Pleistocene Epoch. From torn fragments and patches of deep-frozen skin and insights gleaned from studies of Montana bison, African lions, and Iberian cave art, Ice Age Forensics presents the story of the huge carcass Guthrie calls “Blue Babe”—and the excitement surrounding its reconstruction.

Genres: Science Nature

51 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 13, 2013

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an interesting essay about discovering what killed an ancient animal. Great fun.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but far too short certainly. Some very good explanations of the deductions made in determining the death and internment of this particular bison tens of thousands of years ago. An inordinate number of pages devoted to the lions native to ice age Alaska, however. In the few pages this book had to work with, I'd have much preferred more background information on the bison rather than the predators. Still, a very interesting and informative read.