Though not used to create the skeleton image on the first page of this gallery, this second authentic photo of a New York State mastodon excavation gives another perspective on the dig that served as the foundation for the digital artwork.

The artwork, in turn, inspired false reports of an ancient-giant discovery.

IronKite, the digital artist, had nothing to do with the subsequent hoax.

To create the photo collage, he said, I kept most of the wood frame from the dig site and replaced most of the muddy dirt with ground from the skeleton picture, using a fuzzy 'brush' to fade the two so no hard lines would be visible."

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