Lonnie Moore and Roy Baldwin are shown exhibitiing their find, a part of a set of teeth from a prehistoric mastodon. The teeth are reported to be about 10,000 years old.
Defender Archives: August 19, 1971
Two West Union youths made a rare and unusual find recently while canoeing Ohio Brush Creek.
Roy Baldwin and Lonnie Moore ran ashore on a gravel bar between Sproull Bridge and Grahams Crossing. In an effort to get their craft back into the water, the boys noticed a rather odd looking piece of dentate.
Both knew that what they had found was quite old and from the mouth of some prehistoric creature. But, they didn’t know how old or what type of animal had once used this partial plate to satisfy its daily appetite.
The boys brough their finding into the local newspaper in West Union and a call was made to William Thompson, head of State Parks in this district, at Serpent Mound.
Mr. Thompson relayed the call and information to Ray Baby, curator and an archeologist with the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus.
The plate was examined by Mr. Baby and others from the center and part of their report was released Monday.
Mr. Baby stated the teeth were from a young mastodon and were between 9 and 10,000 years old. Mr. Baby said the teeth were incisors, or baby teeth, and came out automatically.
They were not able to determine if the animal had roamed this area in that age of giant creatures or if it had been brought here by one of the glaciers that stopped in the vicinity of Fort Hill and over the years had been washed into this area.
