Center for Applied Anthropology

Our 2025 program involved mostly local community service, reconnaissance, and lab organization in July 2025. Students enrolled in a 4-unit Applied Anthropology course that introduced the region and supported the development of future research plans. They also took a 2-unit Laboratory Methods course covering the basics of artifact analysis as we continued to uncover clues to the legendary history of the area.

Ecuador was a land of incredible resistance to colonial forces. Indigenous Quichua-speaking peoples managed to hold off the Inka, the Spanish, and later multi-national corporations since the 1400s. Was it the water? The climate? What was it about the peoples of the páramo—the high grasslands—that gave them the strength to persevere in the face of blatant imperialism?

Participants discovered the beauty of Ecuador as we continued our investigation of the landscapes surrounding the pre-Columbian sites of Pambamarca. They joined us in South America for an immersive archaeology and cultural experience featuring coursework and field trips.

Students lived with project members in the Andes and learned about all aspects of the research project, including archaeological survey, excavation, and community development activities, with a primary focus on laboratory work.

Learn More About Field Programs

California Field School: Interim Report
Hidden Villa Field Seasons from April 2023 through December 2024

Foothill College and Hidden Villa are partnered in a unique way, allowing student scholars to learn on the job as they begin their careers in archaeology. Read the report of the past two seasons below.

Download the Report

The Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi)

The Columbian mammoth was the North American representative of the mammoth lineage. It is believed to have evolved from the steppe mammoth (Mammuthus trogontherii), an earlier Old World species. In Eurasia, the steppe mammoth gave rise to the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), which later migrated into North America.

Although the ranges of the Columbian and woolly mammoths overlapped in parts of North America, their habitats differed. The Columbian mammoth roamed as far south as Mexico and Nicaragua, while the woolly mammoth occupied more northern and colder regions. Both species disappeared between 12,500 and 9,000 years ago, though isolated populations persisted longer on Wrangell Island in the Bering Strait and the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, surviving for several thousand additional years before extinction.

Large male Columbian mammoths stood up to 14 feet tall and weighed around 10 metric tons, making them generally larger than their woolly counterparts. They were grazers and limited browsers, feeding primarily on grasses and low vegetation. Based on modern elephant comparisons, an adult Columbian mammoth likely consumed about 300 pounds of vegetation per day.

The Columbian mammoth differs from the woolly mammoth in location, size, skull shape, teeth shape, and tusk shape (Columbian mammoth tusks spiral inward, whereas the woolly mammoth curls upward). Columbian mammoths lack the large “knob” at the top of the head that we find on the woolly mammoth; and neither have the same teeth, tusks, and frame as the American mastodon (Mammut americanum) – a completely different genus of ancient elephant. The Columbian mammoth likely lacked the full wooly undercoat of the woolly mammoth, but did have a long stringy outer coat, similar to the woolly mammoth. Our hair samples may reflect this.

Here’s a clear, polished version of your section with improved flow, consistency, and readability — ideal for use in a museum exhibit, educational brochure, or research summary:

The Excavation Site and the Specimens

The Castroville Mammoth Site was discovered in 2011 by artichoke farmers in unincorporated Monterey County. While leveling soil with heavy equipment, the crew struck a large tusk, revealing what would prove to be a significant paleontological find. The discovery was reported to Mark Hylkema, a California State Archaeologist with extensive field experience in the Monterey Bay region. Hylkema prepared an initial report and shared it with a network of paleontologists and archaeologists, which led to the formation of a research team that included faculty and students from the Foothill College Anthropology Department. With only a limited excavation window, the team worked quickly to expose, document, and preserve the remains.

To date, approximately 10% of the mammoth’s skeletal material has been uncovered, though it is believed that the rest of the skeleton remains at the site. Ground-penetrating radar has been employed to map the subsurface and guide future excavations, helping researchers identify where additional remains are likely to be located.

While Columbian mammoth fossils have been found elsewhere in California—such as in San Jose (2005) and Fremont (1960s)—this marks the first discovery in Monterey County.

One of the most remarkable aspects of this find is the presence of preserved hair. Distinctive, thick strands are visible in the clay surrounding the remains. When pigment is intact, the hair exhibits a reddish-brown color, similar to that of the woolly mammoth, though typically finer in texture. Because Columbian mammoths lived in warmer, southern regions, soft tissues and hair rarely survive; preservation of such material is far more common among woolly mammoths buried in permafrost conditions. Consequently, this represents one of only a few documented cases where Columbian mammoth hair has been recovered.

The Castroville Mammoth Project

Stephan Schuster, a member of our investigative team, is a paleofaunal DNA specialist at Pennsylvania State University. Our hopes are that he will be able to extract ancient DNA from the hair follicles, or from the tusk ivory. If he succeeds, this will be the first published recovery of DNA from this species. This DNA information could be used to understand exactly how the Columbian mammoth is related to woolly mammoth and modern elephant species, and to better understand the common ancestor of woolly mammoths, modern elephants, and Columbian mammoths.

Student Mammoth Project

Students are currently working on processing the sub-fossilized skeletal remains of a Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) found on an artichoke farm, and excavated by a team of volunteer archaeologists and anthropology students in Castroville, CA, near Monterey. It is believed that the individual is a young adult male, with adult Columbian mammoths standing at around 14 feet tall! Several other prehistoric animals were found in the excavation unit alongside the mammoth, including a camel and a mastodon (another large mammal related to the mammoth and the elephant).

These finds were significant because strands of red hair were found with the mammoth bones, possibly allowing for future genetic testing, and that so many animals from prehistoric North America were found together in one site. A partial rib and tusk, reconstructed by the Foothill Osteology Club, is now on display at the Center for Applied Anthropology, in addition to information concerning the findings.

The student-driven project involves sorting through the boxes of mammoth bone fragments, ivory tusk fragments, and soil samples at Foothill College, cleaning the bones to remove all dirt and other particles, and cataloging each item for future analysis and display. This project is very exciting and unique, as the mammoth is estimated to be around 20,000 years old, and provides an excellent opportunity for students to practice cleaning prehistoric faunal bones and learn to correctly process and catalog these remains.

If this is something that interests you, or if you’d like to learn more about the Castroville Mammoth, please stop by the CAA and speak to one of our student volunteers or staff.

• Castroville Columbian Mammoth Excavation

• Photos on Flickr