Box of Bones - Pemberton's Mastodon Skull LbNA #76825
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Add Location| Owner: | PineBarrensBlues  |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Feb 16, 2024 |
| Location: | 3 Fort Dix Road, Pemberton, NJ |
| City: | Pemberton |
| County: | Burlington |
| State: | New Jersey |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Found by: | JerseyTrailblazers |
|---|---|
| Last found: | Feb 19, 2024 |
| Status: | F |
| Last edited: | Feb 16, 2024 |
Box of Bones - Pemberton's Mastodon Skull
Of the many folk tales that exist in the Pine Barrens, few are as close to the North Pemberton Railroad Station Museum as the story of Pemberton's mastodon skull. It goes something like this: About a hundred years ago, along Budd Run (the small tributary next to the museum), a tight-knit group of kids had created a game to see how far they could jump across the banks of the stream. After walking along the bank of the river, they soon found the perfect jumping off point. It was a huge white rock that, while a little strange, seemed to do the job. As the day went on, each kid continued to jump farther and farther across when suddenly the rock broke loose from its spot and the jumping child was immediately dumped into the creek below. Though the youngster was alright, no one seemed to care to ask about his condition and he soon saw why. That rock was discovered to be no rock at all, but the skull of an enormous creature that walked the earth more than 10,000 years ago. It was a mastodon!
American mastodon's (otherwise known as Mammut Americanum) were the youngest branch of the family Mammutidae, which split from the ancestors of elephants at least 25 million years ago. The name "mastodon" was derived from French anatomist Georges Cuvier, who named it from the Greek for "breast tooth," based on the long tusks that were often found with the fossils. Like wooly mammoths and modern day elephants, these were huge animals with tusks that sometimes exceed 5 m (16 ft) in length! They lived from the early-middle Pliocene (5.33-2.58 million years ago) until only about 11-10,000 years ago, where they and the wooly mammoth would go extinct during the Last Ice Age.
So how true is the story of Pemberton's Mastodon?
Well, in 1909, J.H. Kelsey, of Pemberton, with law offices in Mount Holly, was digging on the farm of Walter Antrim in Springfield. Kelsey was the type to go out and look for arrowheads, but he soon stumbled across something much stranger. It was a tooth! But not just any tooth. It was massive. Realizing that he had stumbled across something strange and unique, Kelsey found a spade and dug into the ground. He soon found a total of 21 separate teeth, which he pulled from the enormous skull that he found "concealed along the banks of a small stream bed for ages." After notifying the Geological Society, the entire massive skeleton was pulled from the ground. The Mount Holly Mirror newspaper, reporting on the find, ended the article by stating, "The skeleton of a similar mastodon was found near the same spot fifteen years ago by J. Coleman Saltar, a brother-in-law to Mr. Kelsey." Although later articles found that this find was likely that of a large three-toed horse or some other extinct animal, it is a great example of the fossils that can be found in this part of New Jersey. In fact, at the Burlington County Lyceum of History and Natural Sciences in Mount Holly, New Jersey, they have a mastodon skull found in Pemberton on display!
Clues to finding the letterbox:
1. After parking at the North Pemberton Train Station, face away from the road and head down the path.
2. Head along the trail for 3/4ths of a mile until you come across a bridge with sword hilts on the railing. Look out across the water found there and imagine finding the bones of a creature that walked across New Jersey thousands of years ago.
3. Find the railing that is painted yellow on the bridge and stand in front of it.
4. Using a compass (your phone has a compass as well), turn 90 degrees east and walk 110 paces along the trail.
5. To your left, the box will be hidden where most fossils are found. You will not have to walk more than 2 steps off the trail to find the box.
6. Please leave a note in our notebook and stamp your stamp! Please place the box where you found it so that no one can see it from the trail. Thank you for giving it a try!
The “Box of Bones” letterbox was created by the Pemberton Township Historic Trust, which is operating the North Pemberton Train Station Museum as an entry point to the history of Pemberton Township as well as the wider Pine Barrens. Please consider taking a look at our Facebook page to see our events or if you would like to make a donation. Any donations or memberships ($15 per person) can be sent to us at: P.O. Box 1647, Browns Mills, NJ 08015.
The story of finding the fossilized teeth was taken from the Mount Holly Mirror on July 13, 1909, Page 2.
Of the many folk tales that exist in the Pine Barrens, few are as close to the North Pemberton Railroad Station Museum as the story of Pemberton's mastodon skull. It goes something like this: About a hundred years ago, along Budd Run (the small tributary next to the museum), a tight-knit group of kids had created a game to see how far they could jump across the banks of the stream. After walking along the bank of the river, they soon found the perfect jumping off point. It was a huge white rock that, while a little strange, seemed to do the job. As the day went on, each kid continued to jump farther and farther across when suddenly the rock broke loose from its spot and the jumping child was immediately dumped into the creek below. Though the youngster was alright, no one seemed to care to ask about his condition and he soon saw why. That rock was discovered to be no rock at all, but the skull of an enormous creature that walked the earth more than 10,000 years ago. It was a mastodon!
American mastodon's (otherwise known as Mammut Americanum) were the youngest branch of the family Mammutidae, which split from the ancestors of elephants at least 25 million years ago. The name "mastodon" was derived from French anatomist Georges Cuvier, who named it from the Greek for "breast tooth," based on the long tusks that were often found with the fossils. Like wooly mammoths and modern day elephants, these were huge animals with tusks that sometimes exceed 5 m (16 ft) in length! They lived from the early-middle Pliocene (5.33-2.58 million years ago) until only about 11-10,000 years ago, where they and the wooly mammoth would go extinct during the Last Ice Age.
So how true is the story of Pemberton's Mastodon?
Well, in 1909, J.H. Kelsey, of Pemberton, with law offices in Mount Holly, was digging on the farm of Walter Antrim in Springfield. Kelsey was the type to go out and look for arrowheads, but he soon stumbled across something much stranger. It was a tooth! But not just any tooth. It was massive. Realizing that he had stumbled across something strange and unique, Kelsey found a spade and dug into the ground. He soon found a total of 21 separate teeth, which he pulled from the enormous skull that he found "concealed along the banks of a small stream bed for ages." After notifying the Geological Society, the entire massive skeleton was pulled from the ground. The Mount Holly Mirror newspaper, reporting on the find, ended the article by stating, "The skeleton of a similar mastodon was found near the same spot fifteen years ago by J. Coleman Saltar, a brother-in-law to Mr. Kelsey." Although later articles found that this find was likely that of a large three-toed horse or some other extinct animal, it is a great example of the fossils that can be found in this part of New Jersey. In fact, at the Burlington County Lyceum of History and Natural Sciences in Mount Holly, New Jersey, they have a mastodon skull found in Pemberton on display!
Clues to finding the letterbox:
1. After parking at the North Pemberton Train Station, face away from the road and head down the path.
2. Head along the trail for 3/4ths of a mile until you come across a bridge with sword hilts on the railing. Look out across the water found there and imagine finding the bones of a creature that walked across New Jersey thousands of years ago.
3. Find the railing that is painted yellow on the bridge and stand in front of it.
4. Using a compass (your phone has a compass as well), turn 90 degrees east and walk 110 paces along the trail.
5. To your left, the box will be hidden where most fossils are found. You will not have to walk more than 2 steps off the trail to find the box.
6. Please leave a note in our notebook and stamp your stamp! Please place the box where you found it so that no one can see it from the trail. Thank you for giving it a try!
The “Box of Bones” letterbox was created by the Pemberton Township Historic Trust, which is operating the North Pemberton Train Station Museum as an entry point to the history of Pemberton Township as well as the wider Pine Barrens. Please consider taking a look at our Facebook page to see our events or if you would like to make a donation. Any donations or memberships ($15 per person) can be sent to us at: P.O. Box 1647, Browns Mills, NJ 08015.
The story of finding the fossilized teeth was taken from the Mount Holly Mirror on July 13, 1909, Page 2.