History | Lamb Spring Board of Directors | Future

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In the outskirts of Littleton, Colorado the Lamb Spring site was discovered by Mr. Charles Lamb in 1960, while digging a stock pond at the site of a natural spring. 

He found several large bones that were identified by geologists with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as the remains of mammoth, horse, camel and bison.  Dr. Waldo Wedel (Smithsonian Institution archeologist) and Dr. Glenn Scott (USGS geologist) then excavated the site in 1961 and 1962.  They found the bones of at least five mammoths, one of which was radiocarbon dated as slightly older than 13,000 years, suggesting that the animals visited the spring at the end of the last Ice Age.  After mammoths and other Ice Age animals had become extinct, people hunted and killed bison at the spring sometime between 8,500 and 9,000 years ago.  These people used stone tools associated with what archaeologists call the Cody complex.  In 1980 and 1981, Dr. Dennis Stanford (Smithsonian Institution archaeologist) also excavated the site and recognized evidence suggesting that people may have hunted the Ice Age mammoths.  He also found evidence of the remains of over 30 mammoths that died near the spring. 

In 1995, The Archaeological Conservancy, with help from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Smithsonian Institution, and Douglas County, purchased the 35 acres containing Lamb Spring. 

Under the supervision of Drs. James Dixon and Paul Murphy, in 2002, students and volunteers from the Museum Studies Program at the University of Colorado-Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS) participated in the excavation of the mammoth skull found previously by Dr. Dennis Stanford.  The excavated skull was transported to DMNS where scientists created a cast and mold.  The original specimen is housed at DMNS.  The mammoth was likely a juvenile male or female that died about 13,000 years ago.  It may have been killed by humans or other predators, or it may have died of other causes.  Further excavations at the Lamb Spring Preserve will help to answer these and other questions about the prehistory of the site and the ancient environment of the region.  READ MORE »

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Mammoth Cast and Mold

The Lamb Spring Columbian mammoth mold and cast currently stored at the Douglas County History Repository were made under the direction and supervision of E. James Dixon, PhD.   Dr. Dixon, the lead archaeologist who oversaw the excavation of the Pleistocene (between 25,000-/+ 11,000 years ago) juvenile female mammoth skull during the summer of 2002, is also a member of the Lamb Spring Archaeological Preserve Board.   A $75,000 grant from the Colorado State Historic Fund made it possible for Dr. Dixon to excavate the skull and make the mold and replica, as well as write the program, facilities and financial plans (the Museum Plan) outlining the costs, methods and tasks that need to be completed in order to develop a future interpretive museum and educational facility on Lamb Spring.  The original skull is held in a protective environment at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.