The Dig

Welcome to The Dig!
This is your chance to see what it is like to work at a dig site like an archaeologist or paleoanthropologist. These sites contain messages from the past for you to discover-but you must do your job right. Tune up your imaginations, get out your notebooks, grab your digging tools, review the scientific method, and get ready to learn about the past.


Cast of a dire wolf found in the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles, made by Mary Odano, Valley Anatomical Preparation, Chatsworth, California.

Dire Wolf Skeleton
Canis dirus

Can you find the teeth of this animal? What do you think it ate?
The dire wolf is a close relative of today's gray wolf; however, its legs were shorter and its head and teeth larger. The dire wolf's large, strong teeth were for crushing bones and it may have hunted in packs like modern hyenas. It weighed over 100 pounds. About how long was it from nose to tail tip?

The dire wolf became extinct about 9,000 years ago. It lived at a time when early Native Americans lived in what is now southern California. This is the most numerous mammal in the La Brea Tar Pits-about 3,600 dire wolf fossils have been found there.

The Scientific Method Science can get you a date. The problem is: you need a date for Friday night and do not know where to start. What do you do? Put the scientific method to work. Scientists use these steps to guide their work and make discoveries. Step 1: Define the problem. I need a date for Friday night. Step 2: Research the problem. Consult your little black book and make a list of likely names. Step 3: Form a hypothesis. Pat will go out with me. Step 4: Test your hypothesis by gathering data. Ask Pat for a date. Step 5: Note your results and draw conclusions. Pat said, "No, thank you." Step 6: Form another hypothesis... Terry will go out with me. ...and repeat the process until you find success. Step 7: Share your results. Tell your best friend about your date with Terry.