It took thousands of years, but the mammoth whose tusk was found in South Lake Union on Feb. 11 finally has a name: LuLu the Lucky Lake Union Mammoth, the Burke Museum announced today.
The museum held a contest to name the mammoth, and the judges narrowed it down to two top entries out of more than 1,000. The judges chose “Lucky,” because the tusk “was a very lucky find after more than 20,000 years,” and “Lu,” because the tusk was found near Lake Union. The final name is a combination of the two entries.
Other entries: Sir Digs-A-Lot, Prince Hairy, Bone-a-part and Pontius Pachy. Also included were some homages to the Seahawks, like Beast Bone and Marshawn the Mammoth. The tusk was discovered during Seahawks season, after all.
The name was announced during the opening party for “Imagine That: Surprising Stories and Amazing Objects from the Burke Museum,” the Burke’s newest exhibit. The mammoth tusk in its plastic jacket will be on display in the exhibit, which will reveal “a new side of the Burke, and uncover some of the most fascinating, intriguing and rare objects in its collection.”
The tusk was found during excavation for an apartment complex at Mercer Street and Pontius Avenue North, museum spokeswoman Alaina Smith said. It’s the most complete such fossil found in the Puget Sound area.