Children pretend to have adventures every day, but when one Ball State student was 8 years old, his imagination came to life.
Senior publications major Logan Buesching’s family found a mastodon skeleton on their peat moss farm in 1998. The fossil was unveiled Thursday and is on display at the Indiana State Museum.
“Of course I thought it was a dinosaur,” Buesching said about the bones his cousin unearthed on the family’s farm.
His cousin found a tusk of what would turn out to be a 13,000-year-old mastodon skeleton, the most complete skeleton found in the Midwest.
The family reported the find to the Department of Anthropology at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Faculty, students and volunteers excavated the skeleton.
“It was really cool to see all of the activity.” Buesching said. “It was like finding a lost piece of history.”
The family eventually gave the bones, which were named Fred after Buesching’s grandfather, to the Indiana State Museum in 2006.
Buesching said he is honored to have his family name attached to such an important find.
“It will really add to the family history, knowing it is something I will always have,” he said. “I will be able to show this fossil to my grandchildren.”
The museum said 80 percent of the skeleton was recovered in Fort Wayne, which is significant because most fossils are less than 50 percent complete when found.
The assembly of the skeleton was supported by the LDI 100 Anniversary Celebration Cultural Partnership Gift Program.
People were allowed to purchase or sponsor a bone which ranged from $50 for small bones to the $20,000 skull, which the Buesching family sponsored, according to the museum.
Purchasing a bone means sponsoring the cost of building the steel skeleton that positions the bones, a process Buesching likened to jewel setting.
The Indiana State Museum is one of few museums that are capable of building the steel skeleton within the museum, according to a press release.
Fred is currently on display at the museum, but this fall it will be the centerpiece of Indiana’s Ice Giants presented by Iriving Metals Inc.
“It really feels special to be a part of the unveiling,” Buesching said. “Having my family’s namesake on what they call the ‘icon of the museum’ is a true honor.”
