Over 80K artifacts, specimens donated to Idaho Falls museum

Private landowners have donated 80,000 artifacts and specimens that were found inside caves on their land to the Museum of Idaho.

The collection contains archaeologically significant elements up to 14,000 years old, such as Columbian mammoth, bison, and camel remains, as well as Folsom points and other goods used by some of the earliest humans in what is now East Idaho.

A statement by the Museum of Idaho says the artifacts and specimens were found inside three caves in the desert west of Idaho Falls on land owned by Leonard Wasden and his brother-in-law Kenneth Huskinson.

The Wasden site is considered one of the earliest places in the Northwest where human tools are associated with mammoths.

According to the museum, archaeologists from the Upper Snake River Prehistoric Society and Idaho State University that excavated at the site determined it was likely a prehistoric kill site for large game.

The museum says some items are up to 14,000 years old.