Principia's Mammoth Dig - Progress

How Benny Got His Name:

The backhoe operator who was on the crew that found the original tooth and later uncovered the tusk is Benny White. In his honor, our mammoth has been affectionately named, "Benny." We thank the entire crew for their sharp eyes and willingness to pursue their discovery!

June 1999:

In 1999 as the Principia Facilities crew was digging a manhole for some electrical conduit for remodeling needs at Rackham Court dorm, they hit a small, hard, white chunk. They didn't know what it was, but knew it was unusual and took it to a Science faculty member. The tooth was identified by the geology professor Fred Marshall to be that of a mammoth. Jeff Saunders, a vertebrate paleontologist and mammoth expert from the Illinois State Museum in Springfield, further identified the tooth to be that of a woolly mammoth.

It was decided to mark the location of the find, backfill the manhole with sand, and relocate the manhole. The faculty wanted to let a class of students some day go back and dig for any additional remains knowing that the one partial tooth could be all there was. A proposal to teach such a class was funded with Funds for Excellence two years later.