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by Teresa Martin

I totally love eBay. Those who have been following my columns for lo these many years may remember my early infatuation which gave me flash backs to a Saturday morning radio "swap shop" show from childhood. And you've heard how I love the way eBay reflect humanity in all sort of ways. And how it connects - like my eBay quilt hunting showed - people in unlikely places. Well, today dear readers, there's another great eBay listing that I jut have to talk about.

A mastodon

Well, a three million year old mastodon skeleton, actually.

No, I am not making this up. It seems that the skeleton was unearthed on a ranch in Modec County, CA. Let's let the seller tell the story, shall we?

In 1997 Eric Pedersen, a ranch hand working on Rustler Ranch found a tooth sticking out from a stream bank. At first, the tooth looked like an arrowhead. Once the tooth was dug out, it was apparent that something much more significant had been found.

The ranch owner, Roger Fiddler was fascinated by the find, and invited a paleontologist to identify the tooth. Upon removing the top layer of soil, a nearly intact mastodon skeleton was found in the exact position in which it died. The only parts missing are the tusks, which were probably eroded away by the nearby stream."

The listing description includes lots of photos of the unearthing of the skeleton. And it even has an embedded YouTube video, showing the discovery of the elephant-like giant in teeny grainy digital moving pictures.

We don't know what happened in the beastie's life, but since it was dug up it seems to have been on the road quite a bit. It traveled to the Oakland Museum of California where it was on exhibit from October 1999 to June of 2002. According to Reuters news service, which appears to be as interested in this tale as I am, it then traveled to a wine bar (presumably as dˇcor, not as a customer) and then back to the ranch which it was stored in a sauna and garage, and where it has now overstayed its welcome.

And so it is being auctioned. Online. On eBay.

If you'd like to own this piece of history ... or just a really good conversation piece, the staring bid is $115,000 ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190206826031) As of this writing, no bids appear to have been placed, so knows where this skeletal nomad might end up roaming next, but one thing's for sure ... just when you think you've heard the oddest thing ever, the next oddest one comes along.

So let's recap this week's digital moment:

• Three million year old fossil.
• eBay.
• YouTube.
• Global digital market.

How's that for a circle from the ice age to the digital age?

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