Date:   Sun Dec 26 1993  17:47:10
From:   Thomas Yoha
To:     All
Subj:   ICE AGE HORSE
Attr:
POLITICS                       -------------------------------

  As seen on the wires of the Associated Press;
                     Sunday, December 26, 1993

               DATELINE: WHITEHORSE, Yukon Territory

             SCIENTISTS DATE HORSE IN YUKON TO ICE AGE

   Carbon dating on the remains of a horse found last fall near the
   Alaskan-Canadian border show it died 26,000 years ago, experts
   said, making it one of the best-preserved Ice Age animals ever
   discovered in North America.

   The dark chestnut hide is complete with blond mane and tail. Also
   recovered were a right foreleg with the flesh remaining, a couple
   of bones and stomach contents.

   Miners found the horse near Dawson City, 340 miles north of
   Whitehorse.

   Experts believe it may have died in a creekbed and that an
   overhanging bank collapsed on it, preserving it through the
   millennia.

   "This is a very significant find in terms of understanding Ice
   Age animals, and it gives us a window into life in the Ice Age,"
   Yukon government archeologist Ruth Gotthardt said last week.

   She said artists' depictions have shown the small Ice Age horse
   as having a short mane and tail, but this animal had a long mane
   and tail and beautiful coat.

   The remains were so well-preserved that intestinal membranes are
   distinguishable, complete with digested food. And it still
   smelled strongly of dead horse, she added.

   "We collected enough dung for specialists in botanical fossils
   and pollen to see what these animals ate," Gotthardt said.

		Transmitted:  93-12-26 06:41:24 EST