HEAPS OF FOSSILS IN A CAVE; November 25, 1895,

[jeff of pa]

Within about an hour's ride of the city, at Port Kennedy, there has recently been discovered, or rather rediscovered, a cave of unusual interest to the scientific world; in fact, no equally valuable find his been made on the Eastern coast of the United States for many years. [ END OF FIRST PARAGRAPH ]

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive...679D94649ED7CF

[Rubicon]

Too Cool! Wish I could have seen it....

Personnel from the Department of Vertebrate Zoology at the Academy of Natural
Sciences (Philadelphia), in conjunction with the United States National Park
Service and Valley Forge National Historical Park, are currently attempting to
relocate an important Pleistocene fossil locality near the town of Port
Kennedy, in Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, southeastern
Pennsylvania. We appeal to listserve subscribers for any assistance you may be
able to provide.

In the late 1800s, workers quarrying limestone near Port Kennedy discovered a
filled vertical fissure (sinkhole) containing abundant remains of middle
Pleistocene mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and plants.

Notable mammal finds included multiple specimens of mastodon (Mammut), ground
sloth (Megalonyx), and several felid genera, including the sabertooth Smilodon
gracilis and the American cheetah Miracinonyx. The principal investigators of
the vertebrate remains were Edward Drinker Cope and Charles Wheatley, while
Henry Chapman Mercer studied the taphonomy of the site.

Although its fossils were far from exhausted, the fissure was abandoned in 1896
because flooding prevented further work. In the early 20th Century (1930s?),
the flooded quarry containing the site was filled with waste from the Ehret
Magnesia Manufacturing Company, and the precise location of the fossiliferous
sinkhole was lost.

Today, the site, known as Port Kennedy Cave or Bone Cave, is recognized as one
of the most significant middle Pleistocene (Irvingtonian) localities in eastern
North America. We are attempting to establish its precise location through a
search of paleontological and historical literature and archives
from the late 19th and early 20th centuries (particularly the 1870s through
1930s). Although we have made progress in relocating the Port Kennedy Cave, we
would like further evidence to support our conclusions, ideally photographs of
the site prior to its infilling in the 1930s.

If you have any information on the location of the Port Kennedy locality, or
would like further information, please email lamanna@sas.upenn.edu or
daeschler@acnatsci.org. Any evidence pertinent to the location of Port Kennedy
Cave will be greatly appreciated, and acknowledged in subsequent
reports and publications.

Sincerely,
Matthew C. Lamanna
University of Pennsylvania
lamanna@sas.upenn.edu
(215) 573-8373