By Timothy Page

The Mount Holly Mammoth, a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), represents one of New England’s most significant paleontological discoveries, shedding light on Vermont’s late Pleistocene environment. Found in 1848, its remains have fueled scientific inquiry, public fascination, and debates about human-megafauna interactions. Designated Vermont’s state terrestrial fossil in 2014, the mammoth continues to inspire research into the region’s Ice Age past.¹

The Discovery in 1848

In the summer of 1848, workers constructing the Rutland and Burlington Railroad in Mount Holly, Vermont, uncovered fossilized remains in a peat bog near Summit Station in the Green Mountains, at an elevation of 1,415 feet.² The initial find included a molar weighing over seven pounds and a decaying tusk, approximately four feet long and four inches in diameter.³ Subsequent excavations revealed another tusk, ribs, vertebrae, and other bones, making it the most complete mammoth skeleton documented in New England at the time.⁴

The discovery garnered attention in local newspapers, such as the Burlington Free Press, which published an article titled “Extraordinary Fossils,” though public interest was tempered by the era’s focus on industrial progress.³ Hiram Carleton, a railroad director, ensured the fossils were preserved for scientific study, preventing their disposal.² Initially intended for the University of Vermont’s museum (now the Perkins Museum of Geology), the remains were distributed among various institutions for analysis.¹

Early Academic History

The Mount Holly Mammoth attracted prominent scientists of the time. Samuel Henshaw, another railroad director, sent the molar and tusks to naturalists, including Louis Agassiz, a Harvard professor known for his work on ice ages.² At an 1849 scientific convention in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Agassiz identified the remains as belonging to a woolly mammoth, distinguishing them from mastodon fossils and supporting his theories of glacial activity in Vermont.³ This identification challenged biblical chronologies that limited Earth’s history to approximately 6,000 years.³

John C. Warren, a retired Harvard professor and expert on Pleistocene proboscideans, also studied the molar, confirming it as Mammuthus primigenius.² Agassiz reportedly visited the site, though no additional remains were documented.² By the 1850s, the molar was featured in Warren’s publications, and the fossils were dispersed: the original molar reached the American Museum of Natural History before returning to Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) in 1920.² A well-preserved tusk and a molar cast were returned to Vermont before 1865.² In 2006, an agreement with the University of Vermont allowed the tusk to be loaned to the Mount Holly Community Historical Museum, where it is displayed.⁵ Concerns about potential commingling with mastodon bones at the MCZ have prompted calls for expert re-examination to confirm the assemblage represents a single individual.²

Modern Research and Radiocarbon Dating

In 2021, a Dartmouth College study published in Boreas provided the first accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon date for a Mount Holly Mammoth rib fragment, housed at the Hood Museum of Art.⁶ The analysis dated the mammoth to approximately 12,800 years ago, during the Younger Dryas, a period of abrupt cooling at the end of the last ice age.⁶ Stable isotope analysis revealed low nitrogen values, suggesting a diet adapted to a glacial environment.⁶ This research, led by Nathaniel Kitchel and Jeremy DeSilva, marked a significant advancement, as the Mount Holly Mammoth had remained undated until then.⁷

The 12,800-year-old date aligns with the estimated arrival of the first humans in the Northeast, suggesting potential temporal overlap.⁶ Researchers emphasized the need for further archaeological surveys at the Mount Holly site to investigate possible human-mammoth interactions, as no direct evidence, such as tools or cut marks, has been found.⁶ The study also highlighted the rarity of well-dated proboscidean remains in New England, with only eight other examples in the region.⁸

Debates and Implications

Early debates focused on distinguishing mammoth from mastodon remains and understanding the geological context, which informed reconstructions of Vermont’s post-glacial landscape.³ The 2021 radiocarbon dating sparked renewed discussion about human-mammoth coexistence. While the date suggests overlap with early human populations, the lack of direct archaeological evidence, such as tools or butchery marks, makes claims of interaction speculative.6 Some researchers argue that environmental changes, not human activity, likely drove the mammoth’s extinction in the region.⁶

In the 2010s, a legislative debate arose over Vermont’s state fossil. The Charlotte Whale, a beluga skeleton found in 1849, was initially designated the state fossil in 1993, but Mount Holly advocates pushed for the mammoth’s recognition.⁹ In 2014, a compromise designated the whale as the state marine fossil and the Mount Holly Mammoth as the state terrestrial fossil, reflecting Vermont’s dual paleontological heritage.¹ The mammoth’s extinction during the Younger Dryas also draws parallels to modern climate change, highlighting the impact of rapid environmental shifts on species.⁶

The Mount Holly Mammoth, from its 1848 discovery to its modern scientific analysis, remains a cornerstone of Vermont’s paleontological legacy. Its journey through academic study, institutional stewardship, and public recognition underscores the interplay between ancient ecosystems and contemporary inquiry. As new technologies and archaeological efforts advance, the mammoth may yet reveal further secrets about Vermont’s Ice Age past.

Sources

1. University of Vermont, “The Mount Holly Mammoth,” Perkins Geology Museum, accessed September 5, 2025, https://www.uvm.edu/perkins/mount-holly-mammoth.
2. Nathaniel N. Kitchel and Jeremy M. DeSilva, “The Mammoth in the Muck: The Mount Holly Mammoth and the History of Paleontology in Vermont,” Vermont History 90, no. 1 (Winter/Spring 2022): 31–47, https://vermonthistory.org/journal/90/VHS9001Mammoth.pdf.
3. Mark Bushnell, “Then Again: Woolly Mammoth Discovery in 1848 Brought Fame to Tiny Mount Holly,” VTDigger, February 14, 2021, https://vtdigger.org/2021/02/14/then-again-woolly-mammoth-discovery-in-1848-brought-fame-to-tiny-mount-holly/.
4. Nathaniel Kitchel et al., “First AMS Radiocarbon Date and Stable C:N Isotope Analysis for the Mount Holly Mammoth, Vermont, USA,” Boreas 51, no. 1 (January 2022): 1–10, https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12547.
5. Mount Holly Community Historical Museum, “Mount Holly Community,” accessed September 5, 2025, http://www.mounthollyvtmuseum.org/.
6. Dartmouth College, “Did Woolly Mammoths Overlap With First Humans in New England?,” February 3, 2021, https://home.dartmouth.edu/news/2021/02/did-woolly-mammoths-overlap-first-humans-new-england.
7. Mount Holly Community Historical Museum, “Radiocarbon Dating the Mount Holly Mammoth,” Archive.org, accessed September 5, 2025, https://archive.org/details/radiocarbon-dating-mount-holly-mammoth.
8. Sci.News, “Mammoths Co-Existed with Early Americans in New England, Study Suggests,” March 4, 2021, https://www.sci.news/paleontology/mount-holly-mammoth-09414.html.
9. FossilEra, “Vermont State Fossil – Mount Holly Mammoth & Charlotte Whale,” accessed September 5, 2025, https://www.fossilera.com/pages/vermont-state-fossil-mount-holly-mammoth-charlotte-whale.