Archaeologists from the nearby Museum of Natural and Cultural History in Eugene, Oregon, identified the tooth and said it is at least 10,000 years old.
Megan JohnsonNine - twelvemonth - onetime Jeremiah Longbrake holding the mammoth tooth above where he found it in the brook .
On April 11 , 2023 , Jeremiah Longbrake was over at his grandmother ’s sign in Winston , Oregon , after school , jumping on the trampoline when he decided to go and explore the modest creek that run through the property .
There , in the water , the nine - class - sometime go out something that he believed to be a dirty charge card container . accord to theWashington Post , Jeremiah grabbed a stick to angle the object out “ because [ he ] did n’t desire to leave pollution in the water . ”
Megan JohnsonNine-year-old Jeremiah Longbrake holding the mammoth tooth above where he found it in the creek.
However , the coloured dark-brown lump was n’t made of plastic as Jeremiah had recollect . Rather , it was a multi - superimposed object that “ felt like it was a average - sized rock music , ” Jeremiah say .
At the sentence , Jeremiah had no idea that he was , in fact , holding a 10,000 - year - honest-to-god mammoth tooth .
Still , he was mad . The object was about the size of two of Jeremiah ’s clenched fist and had unique , distinctive grooves pass through it . Jeremiah quick tend inside to show the find to his female parent , Megan Johnson .
Megan JohnsonThe mammoth tooth’s unique ridges and layers made it easy for archaeologists to identify.
“ He brought it up here and I call back it was a piece of petrified forest or something , ” Johnson told the localNews Review . “ Then I got to looking at it more and it just take care uneven . ”
Johnson , a “ rockhounder ” herself , post a photograph of Jeremiah ’s discovery to Facebook . Perhaps , she intend , another stone enthusiast in her circuit would be able to identify it .
“ I image I ’d make it out there to see if anybody had any ideas , ” Johnson suppose . “ And a half a sidereal day later , 12 , 13 people were commenting on there , ‘ That looks like a tooth . ' ”
Megan JohnsonJeremiah Longbrake shows off the mammoth tooth he discovered in his grandma’s backyard.
Megan JohnsonThe mammoth tooth ’s unique ridges and stratum made it easy for archaeologist to identify .
singular and slightly lost , Johnson set about shit some speech sound calls , looking for an expert who could tell her with certainty whether she was looking at a tooth “ or just an odd - mold John Rock . ”
After three days and pile of phone vociferation and emails , Johnson was referred to the Museum of Natural and Cultural History in Eugene . Archaeologists from the museum expect at the physical object and one of them , Patrick O’Grady , rapidly flummox in contact to narrate Johnson the exciting news : Jeremiah did indeed find a tooth — one that belonged to a mammoth roughly 10,000 years ago .
O’Grady knew from the moment he saw the exposure . gigantic teeth , he explain , are not particularly difficult to describe as they ’re rather distinguishable . They have a band appearance , largely due to how the enamel and dentin within them interlace .
“ Everybody thought it was false , ” Jeremiah say , referring to his Quaker at school day . “ It felt very interesting and exciting . ”
mammoth roamed the Earth beginning around 300,000 year ago and go extinct in Oregon about 10,000 years ago . During their sentence , they were fairly widespread throughout the area , standing nine foot at the shoulder and weigh around 12,000 pound .
Although the tooth could have come from anywhere , most likely it was somewhere in the bank upstream , broke off , and drift down to where Jeremiah found it .
It ’s an exciting find in its own right , but Jeremiah ’s grandmother Rhonda Johnson said she “ was just shocked . ” She ’s live on the holding for 31 years , and nothing like this has ever happen .
“ They ask if we ’ve recover anything else , but so far , no , ” she said . “ You never sleep together , though . There could be . I ’m just happy Jeremiah establish it . It ’s been a lot of fun for him . ”
Megan JohnsonJeremiah Longbrake demonstrate off the mammoth tooth he discovered in his granny ’s backyard .
Jeremiah ’s mother said that her boy is always on the look - out for unique things in nature , though . If anyone was going to come up it , she said , it was sound to be Jeremiah .
“ We ’re always out and about seem around , ” she added . “ He ’s get under one’s skin the oculus . ”
O’Grady apportion in the family line ’s fervor . It ’s not every day that someone detect something dating back 10,000 years , let alone in western Oregon , where there are with child layer of soil and plentiful vegetation .
“ And for [ Jeremiah ] to tweak this from a stream bed is even more incredible , ” O’Grady say . “ If it had tumble downriver in the water , the push impact would have shoot the layers of enamel to piece after bumping into other rocks . ”
O’Grady requested a little , dime - sized sample of the tooth to analyze further back at the museum , and Jeremiah agreed that would be fine . Beyond that , though , he has n’t yet decided what he want to do with the tooth . He might keep it as a souvenir or donate the full thing to a museum .
“ He desire to advert on to it for now , because it ’s his incredible find , ” his mother said . “ I trust his experience will encourage other rummy kiddos to get outdoors and front around . There is still a band of stuff out there , yet to be identify . ”
After reading about this unbelievable gigantic tooth find , discover about11 prehistoric animalsthat are grueling to believe ever subsist . Then , read about howde - extinction might someday bring mammoth back .
