Waco, Texas: Waco Mammoth Site: Indoor Boneyard

The Waco Mammoth Site sits in a 100-plus acre stretch of wooded parkland along the Bosque River and provides a glimpse into the lives of Columbian mammoths. The first bones at site were discovered in 1978, and Baylor University staff, students and volunteers spent countless hours excavating the site during the past 30 years.

The Waco Mammoth Site opened to the public at the end of 2009 and includes a naturally lit dig shelter that creates an atmosphere of an art gallery; a suspended walkway provides a stunning overhead view of the mammoths.

The Welcome Center includes a gift shop and a ticket counter.

Female remains and tusks are visible at the Waco Mammoth Site.

In the murky mists of prehistory, dozens of mammoths -- big proto-elephants -- died in one spot next to Bosque River. No one knows why. Scientists began to excavate the site, and as they dug up more and more bones they eventually built a pavilion around their increasingly deep and wide mammoth pit.

The digging has gone on since 1978, and although the pit is right next to a housing development and a golf course, the Waco Mammoth Site was kept hidden from the public until 2009, when it opened as an attraction. The pavilion is now air conditioned. It has elevated walkways for viewing the half-excavated bones in the pit. The success of a similarly-designed indoor mammoth boneyard in South Dakota probably provided an incentive.