Mastodon bones dating back some 13,000 years now sit in the New York State Museum in Albany. They were recently found in the backyard of an Orange County, New York home.

Dr. Robert Feranac, the curator of ice age animals at the museum, is now studying these bones by removing the soil embedded in the fossil using tweezers and small needles.

New York was once populated with these massive, elephant-like creatures, Dr. Feranac said.

Now he’s sorting through about 100 different pieces of bones that were found, trying to get a clue on what these creatures were like.

Get a close-up look at some of the bones, by watching the video of Subrina Dhammi’s story.