100 years of fossil excavations celebrated today in Los Angeles

Scientists are still digging for Ice Age fossils in the heart of Los Angeles after a century of discoveries.

So much has been uncovered from the La Brea Tar Pits that crews have a backlog of bones to clean and sort through.

Officials at the George C. Page Museum celebrate 100 years of excavation on Monday with a ceremony.

Since 1913, some 5.5 million bones representing more than 600 species of animals and plants have been recovered.

Fossils finds include mammoths, mastodons, saber-toothed cats and other creatures that lived 11,000 to 50,000 years ago.

Excavators have been more careful in recent decades to preserve not just the larger bones, but also the smaller plants, insects and rodents that provide a glimpse of the past environment.