Curators at Royal B.C. Museum need clear confirmation on a tooth found in a Colwood gravel pit more than 40 years ago.

The tale of the teeth was unearthed this month after construction started on the new Royal Bay secondary school site.

The tooth was uncovered in the early 1960s by Glenn WillingB次元官网网址檚 father, Fred Willing and co-worker Alex Murray, says Glenn.

In the early B次元官网网址�60s Fred Willing scraped gravel off the top of the bank while co-worker Murray ran the diesel shovel at the bottom. The pair worked between Metchosin Road and the ocean.

Right before lunch in a winter month the two men noticed falling gravel.

B次元官网网址淭hey looked up at the freshly dragged bank on Metchosin Road and noticed an unusual colour mass about 30 metres up,B次元官网网址� said Glenn Willing, the dragline operatorB次元官网网址檚 son.

By the time the break was over the mass had fallen off the bank.

B次元官网网址淚t was an unusual coloured mass and it didnB次元官网网址檛 look like gravel, they werenB次元官网网址檛 sure what it was,B次元官网网址� Glenn said. B次元官网网址淚t was laying in the lower floor of the pit.B次元官网网址�

Instead of investigating, Murray proceeded to put the matter on the conveyer belt and sent it to the crusher.

B次元官网网址淭he mass was between 12 and 14 feet in diameter. It was substantial,B次元官网网址� explained Glenn, retelling the story his father told him.

Eventually one piece was left and Murray stepped away from the diesel shovel to take a closer look.

B次元官网网址淭he piece he picked up was the tooth of a mammoth,B次元官网网址� Glenn said, adding it was about one foot by one foot. B次元官网网址淗e had the rest of the mammoth there, but it had been sent to the crusher.B次元官网网址�

Both men were disappointed when they realized what had happened, explained Glenn, adding it was the only significant find at the gravel pit in the 100 years it operated before closing in 2008.

Murray donated the tooth to museum in 1964, but during a museum inventory in 1990 it was discovered the tooth and receipt had been separated. RBCM now has two teeth that could be the one from Royal Bay.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 pretty clear to us that we know which tooth it is. We just need someone to help identify it and give us solid closure,B次元官网网址� said Richard Hebda, curator of botany and earth history.  Hebda hopes someone who originally saw the tooth or took a photo of it will come forward and help identify it most likely in a similar fashion to a B次元官网网址減olice identification line up.B次元官网网址�

New school steeped in history

The site where the tooth was recovered is about half a kilometre away from the future site of Royal Bay secondary school.

B次元官网网址淢y first thought when I heard was B次元官网网址榃e might have our mascot picked,B次元官网网址� said Windy Beadall, principal of the future Royal Bay secondary school. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 pretty exciting to think there is more history there than just gravel.B次元官网网址�

Sooke School District is setting up meetings with future Royal Bay students to help select the schoolB次元官网网址檚 colours and mascot starting in January.

B次元官网网址淎 mascot, thatB次元官网网址檚 a great idea,B次元官网网址� said SD 62 superintendent Jim Cambridge.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檇 consider it, but obviously weB次元官网网址檇 need to talk to students and teachers. The kids really are an important voice. We are always looking around for something with connection and itB次元官网网址檚 a lot better than inventing a name like the Pirates or Buccaneers.B次元官网网址�

Help date the tooth

If the mammoth tooth found in Royal Bay can be properly identified, the Royal B.C. Museum plans to send it away for radio carbon dating.

B次元官网网址淭his tooth has never been radio carbon dated,B次元官网网址� said Richard Hebda, curator of botany and earth history at the museum. B次元官网网址淭his tooth doesnB次元官网网址檛 look fossilized and it my be relatively recent.B次元官网网址�

The curator estimates the tooth is 12,000 to 25,0000 years old, near the end of the Ice Age.

Because the speciman hasnB次元官网网址檛 fully fossilized it could be carbon dated, but until the museum can guarantee itB次元官网网址檚 from Royal Bay the testing will not occur, said Hedba.

B次元官网网址�(This) is like a story you read about in kidsB次元官网网址� picture books,B次元官网网址� Hebda said.

The RBCM asks that anyone with information on the tooth found in Royal Bay in 1964 or with photos call 250-356-7226.