In the midst of the concrete jungle we call Los Angeles, a past very different from our urban present has suddenly emerged.  Potentially doubling a collection already known as the nation’s “library of the Ice Age,” a vast new cache of Ice-Age fossils is being uncovered at the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits.

Project 23
So just how did all of these new finds rise to the surface?  The origins of Project 23: New Discoveries at Rancho La Brea began when neighboring Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) began construction on its latest expansion, offering the opportunity for Page Museum scientists to survey asphaltic deposits normally inaccessible.  Twenty-three (hence the project’s moniker) huge blocks were lifted out of the earth, crated into “tree boxes” – ranging from 5’x5’x5’(3 tons) to 12’x15’x10’(56 tons) – and given to the Page Museum and Natural History Museum.

Just A Few Million New Specimens
The world-famous La Brea Tar Pits – and its surrounding area – is already one of the richest sources of Ice Age life (dating from approximately 40,000 – 10,000 years ago).  But now, Project 23 has to date uncovered over 700 measured specimens including mammals like a large pre-historic American Lion skull, lion bones, dire wolves, saber-toothed cats, juvenile horse and bison, teratorn, coyotes, lynx, and ground sloths.  Other finds include turtles, snails, mollusks, abundant tree trunks, and complete insect and leaf mats.  And it’s expected that once all 23 boxes are excavated, Rancho La Brea’s collection could double by three to four million specimens.  What’s more, the finds may inspire new research on global warming, geological changes, biodiversity, and life cycles.

Meet Zed
Coincidentally, just as Project 23 began to exceed all expectations, an additional specimen was found in a neighboring area.  In an ancient river bed near the other discoveries, Rancho La Brea’s first complete individual mammoth was found.  Incredibly rare and well-preserved, this male Columbian mammoth fossil is about 80% complete – with 10-feet-long intact tusks – and is quite possibly one of the most important finds in the Page Museum’s history.  Nicknamed “Zed” in recognition of the importance of this find, he truly is a symbol for the new era of discovery emerging, quite literally, from the depths below Los Angeles.

The Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits is located on Museum Row at 5801 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.  Open every day 9:30am – 5pm.  For more information, visit the Museum’s web site at www.tarpits.org or call 323-934-PAGE.