Tsiigehtchic steppe bison skull

Bison priscus

Complete male steppe bison cranium with horn cores still covered by sheaths of keratin (the same protein that our fingernails are made of). Found by Shane Van Loon in 2007. 13,650 years old.

PWNHC 2008.036.001

Liard River bison skull

Bison antiquus

Partial cranium without horn sheaths. Found on the Liard River near the Blackstone River in the southwestern corner of the Northwest Territories. Found by Alfred Thomas in 1967. 12,300 years old.

PWNHC 984.080.001

Wood bison skull

Bison bison athabascae

Complete cranium of a three-year-old, modern day male bison, with horn sheaths. From Calais Lake, near Fort Providence.

PWNHC 987.096.001

Tsiigehtchic steppe bison scapula

Bison priscus

The small hole in this scapula (shoulder bone) is likely a puncture wound from the horn of an adversary. Male steppe bison probably established their social positions through one-on-one physical altercations, similar to bison today. In fact, the long, sharp horns of the steppe bison likely evolved to reach through their opponents defenses and puncture their necks or shoulders. 13,650 years old.

PWNHC 2008.036.004

Bison foot bone

Water-worn metacarpal, found in 1980 on Garry Island, Mackenzie Delta. Age unknown.

PWNHC 981.007.003

American mastodon tooth

Mammut americanum

Molar found by two fishermen on the shore of Great Bear Lake between Délįne and Russel Bay. Courtesy of Délįne Land Corporation. 47,500 years old. The blue colour is likely an iron phosphate, called vivianite, that forms during the fossilization process. The iron phosphate turns blue when exposed to air.

PWNHC L2002.002.001

Woolly mammoth tooth

Mammuthus primigenius

Adult molar. Nearly complete, with only parts of the roots missing. Old Crow, Yukon. Age Unknown.

PWNHC L2015.002.001

Baby woolly mammoth tooth

Mammuthus primigenius

Nearly complete molar from the lower jaw of a baby mammoth. Old Crow, Yukon. Age Unknown.

PWNHC L2015.002.002

Woolly mammoth atlas vertebra

Mammuthus primigenius

This bone at the top of the spine supported the skull. Found north of Old Crow, Yukon. Age unknown.

PWNHC X963.023.020

Wooly mammoth leg bone

Mammuthus primigenius

Partial mammoth humerus (upper leg bone) found in 1980 in the Mackenzie Delta. Age unknown.

PWNHC 985.035.004

Woolly mammoth tusk

Mammuthus primigenius

Complete right tusk from an adult male. Found by Ray LeBlanc on the north shore of Harrowby Bay, east of North Star Harbour. Courtesy of Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. Age unknown.

PWNHC L2014.005.001

Woolly mammoth tusk

Mammuthus primigenius

Complete tusk, probably female. Found by an oil crew near Tuktoyaktuk in 1973. Age unknown.

PWNHC 973.011.001

Horse jaw fragment

Equus sp.

Ancient horse mandible with six molars. Found by Bernard Lauriol in 2010 in a mud flow of a collapsed slope near Midway Lake, near Fort McPherson. 21,956 years old.

PWNHC 2010.009.001

Caribou thoracic vertebrae

Rangifer tarandus

Found by Bernard Lauriol in 2010 in a mud flow of a collapsed slope near Midway Lake, near Fort McPherson. The cut mark shows where a sample was removed for radiocarbon dating. 7,330 years old.

PWNHC 2010.009.002