Monday, February 10, 2014

Scott Wolter Lightens Up - America Unearthed "Swamp Mammoth"

Since last week's episode and post were pretty intense, I'd like to keep it a bit lighter this week. I have to first say that both Dr's Rachel Wentz and Dennis Stanford were a joy to spend time with. They were intelligent, forthcoming, fun and I learned a lot from them. Candida was a class act too, but I had an absolute blast with James Kennedy. We hit it off immediately and it made the whole experience with him a ton of fun. The two highlights of our two days with James were impromptu moments; one while he and I were searching for fossils without the camera's rolling (Yes, we recreated the fossil tooth discovery, but it was so soon after we were both still jazzed up), and one with the camera's rolling.

While the crew was eating lunch and knowing how limited our time was, James and I used that time to go fossil hunting. We paddled up to this tiny beach on the island and as we beached our kayak's, we both saw the tooth about ten feet away. Instantly, we looked at each other and with sly smiles forming we both knew what the other was thinking. First one to grab it, get's it. We then scrambled out of the kayak's crawling through the water and sand, pushing and wrestling trying to get the advantage while laughing at the same time. Having gained an ever so slight lead, I reached to grab the tooth and was inches above it when to my horror, James knifed his hand under mine and grabbed it. "Shit", I thought, and just I would have done, he taunted me with the prize for a good ten minutes. He got there first and I said, "Good on you man." Just as we were about to leave, James tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Here, it's yours" and gave me the tooth. It now sits proudly on a shelf in my display case as a wonderful memento of that trip and of James.

The other moment happened the next day while filming at James's home. I was asking him questions in front of his garage at a point in the show coming out of a commercial. This is when I had to do a reset that so many find annoying. I'm not wild about the recaps either, but it's necessary to get people just joining the show, or those who weren't paying full attention before the commercial, to get caught up. I had all these bullets points of info crammed into my head ready to deliver and with camera's rolling I said, "OK, I'm ready." Josh said, "Action" and away I went. I looked at James and meaning to say, "Let me give you a rundown", I instead said, "Let me give you a rubdown." Needless to say the take was shot as everyone burst out laughing. Some were literally in tears and the only I could think of was how could I be so dumb…


The crew poses with our guest and airboat captains after a fun day shooting on the water.


Scott and Dr. Dennis Stanford share a laugh at the Smithsonian.


James Kennedy shows Scott his amazing discovery.


Dr. Rachel Wentz and Scott discuss something important at the Windover bog site.


The piece of mastodon tooth moments after its discovery on the beach.


44 comments:

  1. I'm a surface hunter and I've thousands of arrowheads and some other oddities.
    My favorite find ,,has always been the stone mammoth I found some 10 years ago.
    So I always watch anything about the era of the Mammoth... I know man and mammoth, were in my neighborhood... together.
    I found it in a creek and it suffered alot of damage,But there is no denying what it is.
    It's missing trunk,ears, face and three feet.... :Big slope from front shoulders to rear end.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you look up father Crespi, artifacts /collection almost all of his murals depict elephants helping humams. Or engaged in work and or at the top of the mural as in symbolizing there importance in the ancient American world. There is nothing really pointing to any great advanced civilization left behind, but a few carvings, some odd artifacts . What the Spanish didn't melt down or destroy is the proof of a once mighty civilization. In central America. By the time Columbus arrived it was all but over. Dr. Scott you need to unearth the bounty of Central America.

      Delete
  2. Interesting episode, but I couldn't help but laugh every time you talked about The Clovis culture people as the believed first. It might be what you learned in school Mr Wolter, but I'd check your kids' textbooks, because it's not what we're learning nowadays.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Youngster,

      The "Clovis first" is what many academics are still clinging to. If your textbooks are telling a different story, maybe the scholar's still clinging to the past should go back to school?

      Delete
  3. If the Army Corps of Engineers dredged and created that long string of islands, is
    it possible to go along the canal bank and get a provenance for the mother lode?
    if one could backtrack where the fill came from, you might find quite a site there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That logic makes a lot of sense. However, my understanding is that Southern Florida has many areas rich with fossils. I don't know where the "honeyholes" are, but I'll bet there are a bunch of them.

      Delete
    2. Some of the honey holes are sinkholes. Due to the shape of them, animals fall in, can't get out, die and fall to the bottom. Sinkholes have large quantities of fossil remains.

      Delete
  4. Youngster,
    Maybe you found this episode boring because you already knew this, but I found this investigation fascinating. Based on what I learned in this episode there is far from universal agreement on who came when regarding the early peopling of North America. I suspect we will find out it is much more complicated that we think even today. Time will tell…

    ReplyDelete
  5. Any reaction to this recent DNA testing demonstrating Native American origins in Asia, rather than Europe? http://westerndigs.org/genome-of-only-clovis-era-skeleton-reveals-origins-of-native-americans/

    ReplyDelete
  6. I hardly think this proves all Native Americans have origins in Asia. I suspect this is but one small chapter in a much bigger story. I have no doubt a lot more DNA information will be forthcoming in the future.

    Fascinating stuff!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Really glad to hear that you don't believe all NA have Asian origins. My husband and I have this discussion a lot and I maintain that there were probably many different migrations from many different directions. Simply looking at the facial features of Native Americans should have everyone scratching their heads. For example, the Native Americans of the northeast (Seneca, Mohawk, Huron, etc.) have almost European features. And there are stories among plains people of pre-Columbian Native Americans with blue eyes.

      We both look forward to more of your episodes - great stuff!

      Delete
  7. Hello Scott! I enjoyed your show on Florida and would like to add there are other great sites here. I know of an old Indian kitchen where humans have used the site for thousands of years to clean and cook food in central Florida along a crystal clear spring fed river. One of the fossils I found at the site is the jaw bone of an extinct small camel supposedly killed off by human hunters about 10 to 11 thousands years ago and it is among the many remains found there. I have other bones I have yet to identify with cut marks in them. It is definitely a great site for food preparation going back thousands of years near some of our best springs in the area.

    One thing unique about this site is the Indian pottery. I have found pottery the UF experts dated to between 3,500 years old to 5,500 years old and some of it still has the remains of food that boiled over the rim of the bowl and baked onto the outside of the pottery. Some is quite thick. I am wondering if this could be DNA tested? This is rich in fossils and Indian artifacts and the river is undercutting the mound alongside the river exposing some of the older remains. I also have pottery with interesting holes drilled in them which UF claims was for sewing up cracks, but I have my doubts. What could humans have used to sew up cracked bowls with that would withstand searing heat? I have developed another theory for the drilled holes into some of the pottery- something more practical based on what the site revealed to me about what went on there and how.

    I think this site could rewrite human history in our area and it would be a great site to examine but to date no one has bothered to do any excavating at the site. UCF has an island nearby, but this site is far better. All of my remains have been found in the river bottom next to the mound. And if you place an x on the map at this site, and then another where the Vero Beach mammoth bone carving was found and the other from the Astatula river which is 10,500 years old, and then draw a line between those two points, the indian kitchen is on that line. Our rivers were used as highways obviously as the bog bodies were along the St. Johns river and just north of that site are numerous other sites along that river too. Oh, some of my pottery has artwork in it, but not sure if it means anything. I could send you some photos and samples if you wanted to see them. But what I would really like would be for someone to test the food residue from the pottery. It could tell us the exact recipe humans used thousands of years ago and to even include extinct species of animals. This Indian kitchen can definitely add to the body of growing knowledge and artifacts if only someone would take some time out there. Thanks! Kent

    ReplyDelete
  8. Scott,

    I was a chemistry major in college but had to take a few geology classes...I found an an old text I used back in the 80s and it talked about the last ice age receeding in North America creating the Canadian Shield and Niagara enscarpment..I noticed the Ottawa river was much wider and connected the Saint Law. Channel with the Great Lakes..at least the map looked like it did. Said the river receded in more recent times..wonder if that is how the minonians could have traveled to copper rich great lakes from the Atlantic?

    Mike

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mike,

    You are quite right the Minoans would have had better water routes to the Great Lakes in the past. This was due in large part to the earth's crust being at lower levels due to isostatic rebound. The weight of the Laurentide Ice sheet pressed down on the earth's crust to a level at least hundreds of feet lower than today.

    Most people don't realize how different things were even a thousand years ago. You bring up a great point most people and many doubting scholars never consider because they aren't aware of this geological phenomenon.

    ReplyDelete
  10. They say they found out where the stones from stonehenge came from ya know any thing about that?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Jon,

    I was aware of that; there are primary rock types that make up the inner and outer rings of Stonehenge and were quarried at different locations. My understanding is one rock type was from within a few miles, but the other rock type was apparently quarried and transported over 100 miles to the site.

    How they did it is the big question.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Scott,

      Not related to this discussion, but is your e-mail address from your Lake Superior Agates book (4th edition) still active these days? I was wondering because on the 19th I sent an e-mail to using the address provided in that book, regarding a carved stone near where I live. I know you're a busy guy and if anything didn't have time to reply, but I wanted to make sure it's still a valid e-mail.

      Thanks!

      Delete
    2. Hey Scott, I think I may have found some evidence to the lake superior copper mines in relation to the bronze age. It talks of a "floating island of copper" as seen by the the lake superior natives and told to the jesuit who was working in that area middle 1600's. Other clues are written therein. The article can be found online at- the jesuit relations and allied documents, volume 54. I tried messaging you about this several ways but am somewhat new to this communication. Hope this helps. Wally armstrongjr- on Facebook

      Delete
    3. AWLamch/Wally,

      The email you used is not working anymore. The best place to contact me is at america.unearthed@gmail.com. I'll look for your note.

      Delete
    4. Dear Scott

      The "Copperheads" or Golden Circle group was part the Freemasonic Order of the Golden Centurion (FOGC). Each group had 99 members and one of them included Hitler You can read my book Hitler vs. Frabato and 'The Charm of Making" on the web for free. I can trace them through Jean Lafitte and his house in Galveston to what could be called Atlantis submerged off Cuba including Luwian script of Crete. That house became the home of two seventh sons of seventh sons named House. Colonel Edward Mandell House CONTROLLED Woodrow Wilson and freed Trotsky from a Halifax jail so he could bring Lord Nathan Rothschild's threat against the Romanoff's to fruition.

      Delete
    5. I got horribly behind while in Nepal; sorry for the late posting of your comments. Interesting stuff; I'll look into more when I get a chance.

      Delete
  12. Hey Scott, I live in Florida and I was wondering if you could give me the location of where you guys found the mammoth teeth? And do you know of any other cool spots to check out?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I swore to secrecy about collecting sites in Florida that I've been to. I'm sure you understand.

      Delete
    2. Hi Scott-I have watched several of your shows but was wondering if you ever checked out the Wooly Mammoths found in Paris, Wi. One is supposed to be the largest and most complete one found.

      Delete
    3. I did hear about that juvenile mammoth that was found and it sounds like a fantastic find. It many ways it wasn't that long ago they were wandering the earth with humans.

      Delete
  13. Hello Scott! Are you familiar with the work of Dr. Albert Goodyear of the SC Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology? He claims to have found evidence humans were in north America going back about 50,000 years ago at what is called "The Topper site." I don't recall ever hearing you mention this on any of the shows I have watched and I was wondering what you thought of this? Kent

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KG,

      I have heard of reported sites dating back much older than what is typically discussed about early humans in North America. Maybe it's a topic for a future episode?

      Delete
  14. About the obsidian spear point on Hawaii. During WWII Native American Indians were sent there as radio operators and scouts to speak there native language, unknown to all but them, so the Japanese couldn't break the code on intercepted transmissions. These heroic Indians from the Midwest like New Mexico, Texas Arizona ,often carried personal weapons like antler handled knapped knives, and other items held special to them into combat. Do you think this item could have gotten to Hawaii in this fashion?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Daniel,

      Anything is possible, but this point reportedly came from an obsidian quarry in Mexico, not the U.S. making your scenario highly unlikely.

      Delete
  15. Blog is falling behind with the episodes. Noooo!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm back from my trip and catching up!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Just saw the Swamp Mammoth episode this evening-- not sure if you were aware that in Northern Europe (Germany) near the Baltic, there was a practice of burying the dead in bogs dating back 5000+ years. I'm curious why this wasn't mentioned in the show? Are there any instances of the Asiatic peoples coming into the Americas burying their dead in bogs?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It wasn't mentioned in the show because we didn't know about it at the time of filming.

      Delete
  18. Scott,
    Swamp Mammoth episode was great and just recently they have found more evidence that Solutreans could have been in us first. So....I like the show its fun and interesting
    https://www.yahoo.com/news/fisherman-pulls-beastly-evidence-early-americans-135831893.html

    Stephanie

    ReplyDelete
  19. Stephanie,

    Dennis Stanford and I talked about how many Solutrean sites, and in his opinion, over 90 percent of the worlds oldest archaeological sites are now underwater. This was due to sea-level rise of roughly 300 feet after melting of the world's continental glaciers in the past 10,000 years.

    Imagine the amazing history lying in wait in the ocean depths along the ancient shorelines of the continents where most early humans once lived. Underwater archaeology is where it's at in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I just recently watched this "Swamp Mammoth" episode . had never seen this one. I have lived in Brevard county Fla. (West Melbourne at the time) since 1960. I remember when they found the bodies in 1982. i had forgot all about this until i saw this episode. I remember it was big thing. it was in the newspapers and TV news for quite a while. very interesting stuff. Im not a educated person but i get amused at the experts different opinions of where these people came from....anyway interesting episode

    ReplyDelete
  21. Russell,

    It is interesting to see how different people's opinions can be when they look at the same thing. Just goes to show you how important it is to follow proper scientific method and not let personal bias creep in.

    Glad you enjoyed the show.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Scott,

    Great show!!! This episode I thought was one of the best and most intriguing. I can't believe Mr. Kennedy found those carvings. Any rock art found in that area ever? I am guessing there was quite a human society in and around that area thousands of years ago. On a side not, do you believe that the man made hunting structures beneath Lake Huron could have been Solutrean? Would it not fit the time frame?

    ReplyDelete
  23. Technically, the carvings are in fossilized bone so it is rock. James also has other small pieces with manmade designs carved into them which makes sense since it appears he has found an ancient artist's honey hole.

    I'm not sure anything found on the bottom of Lake Huron could be Solutrean since the retreating glaciers only left that area approximately 10-12,000 years ago. I may be off a couple thousand years, but it would be right around the transition time into the Clovis period or later.

    ReplyDelete
  24. The ancient copper culture of Lake Superior is referenced in the Urantia Book, it is to have occurred in the timeframes that Scott describes in his research. The industrial revolution of bronze metal that was occurring in the developing Adamic cultures of the middle east.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scarecrow,

      This sounds very interesting; do you have an author name for this book? Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

      Delete
  25. Love the show, amazing to think how many native groups lived in the Americas, and the wide trade areas. knapping materials traded for thousands of years.
    Have you ever heard of Pipestone Mn., I'm sure you have, being from Minnesota.
    I have a scattering of thousands of flakes in my farm field where Native Americans camped for hundreds of years. I've collected points, stone malls war club heads, game pieces. There are several points that aren't local, that might have been traded, or carried by glacial drift of the Des Moines lobe. Keep up the great work, Keep makeing your great show. God Bless

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown,

      I've been to Pipestone and it's a magical place. I also, inadvertently, bought a box of raw pipestone from a Native American collector many years ago. It was a large collection and in a box were several pieces I didn't realize I had until I got home. it's beautiful material and used primarily for making sacred pipes.

      Delete