Joe Rogan Experience #2080 - John Reeves

On just 2.1 acres, Reeves’ operation has uncovered hundreds of thousands of bones and tusks (mammoth, steppe bison, lions, dire wolves, short-faced bears, etc.), suggesting an enormous, still largely untapped deposit that could radically refine our picture of late Pleistocene ecosystems.

Under a 1920s–50s three‑party agreement, AMNH and the University of Alaska were supposed to take only scientifically valuable bones, document their stratigraphy, and publish annual reports; Reeves says they took nearly everything, never did the required work, and secretly disposed of ~50 tons in the East River, which divers have now confirmed by finding mammoth and bison bones where his documents indicated.

Rather than personally litigate against a wealthy private institution, Reeves is working with Alaska state legislators to pursue repatriation of the bones as state property, with an eye toward federal congressional action that could legally compel AMNH to return the collection.

Reeves shows a distinct burned bedrock horizon about 80 feet down with burnt gravel above it, consistent with some form of intense heating or impact; combined with dense megafaunal remains of varying ages (including material dated ~40,000 years), this supports exploring multiple catastrophic or impact-related extinction phases beyond standard overhunting explanations.

Finds include industrially sawed animal bones carbon‑dated to roughly 190 years old in a context previously thought to be purely Ice Age, a carved face on bone that paleontologists dismiss as “natural,” a mammoth hip bone with a spear point, and a non-local skinner’s tool from Eastern European stone—together suggesting both under-documented historical use and much earlier human occupation of the region.