1,000-Year-Old Bison Skeleton Unearthed in Mitchell

MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) — A 1,000-year-old bison skeleton has been unearthed at the Prehistoric Indian Village in Mitchell.

The Daily Republic reports college students who are excavating the site as part of an annual summer program found the bones in a cache pit where American Indians stored food, weapons and other valuables. The cache pit later became a trash pit where the bones were thrown into.

The pelvis, spine and feet and tail bones were found intact. Alan Outram is a professor of archaeological science at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. He says it's unusual to find large portions of fossils that are not damaged in any way.

The students also found some ribs and leg bones.

The village is South Dakota's only active archaeological site open to the public.

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