PENDLETON, OR - A mammoth tooth and bone fragments found on the Umatilla Indian Reservation last month may help prove that humans were present in the region more than 11,000 years ago.

"Conventional wisdom is that humans didn't come to North America until 10,000 to 11,000 years ago," said Rob Bonnichsen, an anthropology professor at Oregon State University. "This could bring new evidence to rather ambiguous questions."

Bonnichsen identified the bone fragments Tuesday. They came from an animal at least 10,800 years old, but possibly older. The layer of soil in which the fossils were discovered was identified as between 10,000 and 20,000 years old, said Tom Bailor, an anthropologist with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

"It is an important location, and the first of its find," Bonnichsen said. "It may be the earliest evidence of humans known in Oregon."

The fossils were found in an area near the tribe's Wildhorse Gaming Resort soon to become the rough near the seventh fairway of a new golf course.

As heavy equipment was stripping the topsoil, Dino Jones, cultural resource technician for the tribes noticed white flecks of bone along the trails.

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