BY MATT MIHLBACHLER One could say that the main goal of the
Aucilla River Prehistory Project is romantic excitement. The
search for Florida's first people is certainly one of the most
special scientific endeavors currently taking place within the
region. In the study of the past, the search for the oldest or
the first of anything can be among the most exciting aspects of
field work. Discoveries of this sort are of the kind that make
major headlines. On the flip side of the coin, the Aucilla River
Project has revealed a first of another sort. This first is
certainly not glamorous nor romantic, yet for the paleontology
enthusiast and for the scientific community it remains
overwhelmingly exciting. This discovery consists of literally
tons of mastodon digesta. To be more blunt, lying on the bottom
of the Aucilla are loads and loads of dung from extinct
elephants. In case you are wondering just what mastodon digesta
looks like, it consists of abundant little sticks and small
chunks of bark, with an occasional see