Cumberland Bone Cave, on the western slope of Wills Mountain near Cumberland, Maryland, is one of eastern North America’s most important Pleistocene fossil sites. It was discovered in 1912 when Western Maryland Railway workers cut through Andy’s Ridge, exposing a partly filled chamber where local naturalist Raymond Armbruster noticed fossil bones. Smithsonian paleontologist James W. Gidley began excavations that year, and work through 1916 revealed a remarkably rich Ice Age fauna, including 41 genera of mammals, many well-preserved skulls, and remains dating to about 200,000 years ago. Finds included short-faced bears and an extinct saber-toothed cat, and the site still draws scientific study.

Wellersburg, Pennsylvania · USA