Celebrate Christmas in the Cretaceous today at the Prehistoric Museum. FREE admission all day, live music, crafts, gift shop sale, Santa and more! 155 East Main Street - Price, Utah (435) 613-5060
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Friday, December 6, 2013
Support the museum through membership
Membership entitles the member to:
FREE access to the museum during regular business hours
Discounts on gift shop purchases
Invitations to special events and more
Contact Claire Bennett (435) 613-5755 or claire.bennett@usu.edu for more information on memberships
Become a Museum Member
Join us today!
FREE access to the museum during regular business hours
Discounts on gift shop purchases
Invitations to special events and more
Contact Claire Bennett (435) 613-5755 or claire.bennett@usu.edu for more information on memberships
Become a Museum Member
Join us today!
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Friday, November 22, 2013
Prehistoric Museum, USU Eastern Cretaceous Christmas Celebration
Help us celebrate Christmas in the Cretaceous. FREE admission all day, gift shop
sale, live music, crafts and Santa Claus!
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
The Prehistoric Museum, USU Eastern Welcomes "fossil-fixer"
PRESS RELEASE
November 20, 2013
Christine
K. Trease, 435-613-5757: christine.trease@usu.edu
The
Prehistoric Museum, USU Eastern Welcomes "fossil-fixer"
WEDNESDAY,
November 20, 2013, Price, Utah: Newly hired Chief Preparator Carrie
Herbel has arrived at The Prehistoric Museum, USU Eastern, and is ready to
begin tackling projects that have been lying in wait for her. She will be
responsible for the museum's fossil lab and putting together some of the
dinosaur skeletons for exhibit.
The museum enthusiastically welcomes
Carrie Herbel as the newest member of The Prehistoric Museum team.
Carrie Herbel began as the museum’s
Chief Preparator on Monday, November 11, 2013. She was selected from twelve international
candidates. Carrie received her Master’s Degree from the University of
Nebraska and worked at its museum for several years before working for the
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSMT) for 10 years.
"Carrie brings a wealth of knowledge and experience this museum
needs. She is a perfect fit for the museum. We are lucky to have her” museum
director Dr. Carpenter said.
One of Carrie’s first projects will be to assemble the Stegosaurus skeleton. Much of the work
will be done in public view so that visitors can watch the whole process unfold,
and ask questions. The final assemblage of dinosaur skeletons in the dinosaur
pit area will be the Camarasaurus,
which will follow the Stegosaurus.
The museum looks forward to seeing the
exciting new things Carrie has in store just over the horizon.
###
Prehistoric
Museum
Utah State
University – Eastern
155 East
Main, Price, Utah 84501 USA
usueastern.edu/museum
Friday, November 8, 2013
Monday, November 4, 2013
Accepting Submissions for The Other Side of Utah – 2013/2014 Gallery Exhibition
The Other Side of Utah – 2013/2014
An art and photography exhibition for all amateur and professional artists east of the Wasatch Front
November 16, 2013 through February 28, 2014
Artists! This is your opportunity to have your art seen and sold in a museum gallery. All medium of art is welcomed (painting, photography, video, sculpture).
Submissions accepted November 4th through 8th between the hours of 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
Artists should plan to be present for the Member’s Opening and Reception Friday November 15, 2013 from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. This is a great opportunity for artists to speak about their pieces.
Due to space limitations, only two entries per person. Any entries larger than 30 inches in one dimension are limited to one per person.
All flat art needs to be framed and wired or otherwise ready to hang. Remember, a poorly framed piece can detract from your art, and a well framed piece can make it stand out. Sculptures are accepted subject to case size availability and/or the need for physical security. The museum will create labels for each piece featuring name of the piece, medium, artist’s name, and if applicable, selling price set by the artist.
All art should be self-insured. While the Prehistoric Museum will take reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of the art while at the museum, we cannot be held financially responsible for damage or loss.
The Prehistoric Museum reserves the right to reject, or remove from display, any submitted artwork. Any art sold during the show will be subject to a 25% sales commission to the Prehistoric Museum.
Art should be picked up March 1st through March 8th
For gallery information, contact Lloyd Logan, (435) 613-5760 or lloyd.logan@usu.edu
For membership information, contact Claire Bennett, (435) 613-5755 or claire.bennett@usu.edu
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Friday, September 27, 2013
New Attraction Near Completion
The new attraction in the Children's Discovery Area is nearly finished and will be open to the public soon. This will be a great addition to this area and children will be able to reenact what it was like to live in this time. We will post when this area is once again open to the public and we encourage you to bring your little ones to explore this exciting new feature! (general admission rates apply) We are still encouraging guess as to what this actually is....
Volunteer Ralph Escamilla works on the underneath of this great new attraction! |
Director of Education and Exhibits, Lloyd Logan, works on the wall of the upper level of this attraction! |
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Interesting National Geographic Article
Here is an interesting article about dinosaur tracks and much more from "National Geographic". Unfortunately, it can not be viewed in Internet Explorer, so choose a compatible web browser.
http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/09/05/following-in-the-steps-of-late-great-dinosaurs/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_tw20130913ph-footsdin&utm_campaign=Content
Dinosaur Wind Tunnel Test Provides New Insight Into the Evolution of Bird Flight
Here is another interesting article from "Science Daily" Dinosaur Wind Tunnel Test Provides New Insight Into the Evolution of Bird Flight
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130918090545.htm
How Birds Got Their Wings
Here is an interesting article from "Science Daily" How Birds Got Their Wings: Fossil Data Show Scaling of Limbs Altered as Birds Originated from Dinosaurs.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130917123613.htm
Friday, September 13, 2013
What Caused The Woolly Mammoth Extinction...
This is an informative article about studies that may indicate what dealt the mammoths their final blow.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/11/woolly-mammoths-were-wiped-out-by-climate-change-study/
Why Jurassic Park Can Never Happen
This is an interesting article about why Jurassic Park can never happen.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130911184614.htm
Friday, September 6, 2013
More Newness at the Prehistoric Museum
Director of Education and Exhibits, Lloyd Logan and Volunteer Ralph Escamilla are working on the next project at the Prehistoric Museum. Can you guess what they are creating?
Come on and give it your best guess what this is shaping up to be...
Friday, August 30, 2013
More on DNA samples taken from the Prehistoic Museum's Mammoth
Read more about the DNA samples that were taken from the museum's Columbian Mammoth.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/09/repost-inside-the-columbian-mammoth-signs-of-a-woolly-cousin/
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
What's New at the Prehistoric Museum?
Director of Education and Exhibits, Lloyd Logan and Volunteer Ralph Escamilla are working on the next project at the Prehistoric Museum. Can you guess what they are creating?
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Huntington Mammoth "Preservation" Allows For Scientific Study That Would Have Otherwise Not Have Been Possible
Dr. Tim Riley presents information on the current scientific studies surrounding the Huntington Mammoth. Follow the link to part 2 of the Sun Advocate's coverage on the Huntington Mammoth. This incredible find continues to bring forth new information. The way the mammoth was "preserved" previous to excavation allows for scientific study that would have otherwise not been possible.
http://www.sunad.com/index.php?tier=1&article_id=29012
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Great Article on the Pilling Figurines
Here is a great new article on all the recent research reuniting the long lost Pilling Figurine with the rest of the collection. Bonnie Pitblado and her team used state of the art research to prove that the returned figurine was authentic ...and it is all detailed here for the first time. The article is open access, so anyone can read it. Check out the article and come to the museum to see these amazing figurines!
http://saa.metapress.com/content/b1wv681331520806/fulltext.pdf
http://saa.metapress.com/content/b1wv681331520806/fulltext.pdf
Friday, August 16, 2013
Sun Advocate Article, " Prehistoric Museum marks 25th anniversary of mammoth discovery"
Check out this great article on the Huntington Mammoth Anniversary Celebration, "
Prehistoric Museum marks 25th anniversary of mammoth discovery"
http://www.sunad.com/index.php?tier=1&article_id=28949
Friday, August 9, 2013
Prehistoric Museum Mammoth 25th Anniversary Celebration
With 60 people in attendance two spectacular exhibits were unveiled on 8/8/2013 at the Huntington Mammoth’s 25th Anniversary Celebration.
The Ice Age Utah exhibit is bilingual and has drawers that contain hands-on activities.
The Importance of the Huntington Mammoth exhibit displays actual bone for the first time.
After the unveilings, attendees were treated to viewing the original movie of the mammoth excavation followed by a lecture by Dr. Tim Riley, the museum's curator of archaeology.
The evening ended with wonderful refreshments provided by the Castle Valley Archaeological Society, (CVAS) with cookies and a mammoth cake from the Manti-La Sal National Forest for desert.
There was much reminiscing and recounting by those in attendance and a rekindling of the unity that was felt 25 years ago when Chris Nielson, of Nielson Construction encountered bones while excavating for the Huntington Dam a mammoth project presented itself to the public. In just five days various entities, including the Forest Service, the museum, CVAS, Nielson Construction, the Utah State Paleontologist and Archaeologist, and a host of volunteers were able to accomplish the magnificent feat of retrieving the mammoth from its muddy bog of a grave, stabilizing the bones and getting them to the for further stabilization and study.
Something that many may not realize is that the mammoth bones were not fossilized, but rather remarkably preserved in the thick mud bog some 15 feet below the earth’s surface. Therefore, the condition of these bones allowed for more extensive study of the bones to take place.
As most may know, the original bones were reposited at the College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum, but that wasn't an easy feat either. The museum had to become a nationally accredited institution and a federal repository. Through the years up into the current administration under Dr. Kenneth Carpenter, the museum's director and curator of paleontology, the mammoth has been a showcase piece and the center of scientific study. Most recently, analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of the Huntington Mammoth suggested that there was much more interbreeding between Columbian and Wooly Mammoths than researchers previously thought (http://genomebiology.com/content/12/5/R51). Somewhere in his ancestry, at least one of the Huntington Mammoth’s great-grandmas was a wooly, previously thought to be a distinct species. A new study is underway to look at the nuclear DNA of this remarkably preserved specimen. This study may shed further light on the complex evolutionary history of these incredible North American elephants.
The Ice Age Utah exhibit is bilingual and has drawers that contain hands-on activities.
The Importance of the Huntington Mammoth exhibit displays actual bone for the first time.
After the unveilings, attendees were treated to viewing the original movie of the mammoth excavation followed by a lecture by Dr. Tim Riley, the museum's curator of archaeology.
The evening ended with wonderful refreshments provided by the Castle Valley Archaeological Society, (CVAS) with cookies and a mammoth cake from the Manti-La Sal National Forest for desert.
There was much reminiscing and recounting by those in attendance and a rekindling of the unity that was felt 25 years ago when Chris Nielson, of Nielson Construction encountered bones while excavating for the Huntington Dam a mammoth project presented itself to the public. In just five days various entities, including the Forest Service, the museum, CVAS, Nielson Construction, the Utah State Paleontologist and Archaeologist, and a host of volunteers were able to accomplish the magnificent feat of retrieving the mammoth from its muddy bog of a grave, stabilizing the bones and getting them to the for further stabilization and study.
Something that many may not realize is that the mammoth bones were not fossilized, but rather remarkably preserved in the thick mud bog some 15 feet below the earth’s surface. Therefore, the condition of these bones allowed for more extensive study of the bones to take place.
As most may know, the original bones were reposited at the College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum, but that wasn't an easy feat either. The museum had to become a nationally accredited institution and a federal repository. Through the years up into the current administration under Dr. Kenneth Carpenter, the museum's director and curator of paleontology, the mammoth has been a showcase piece and the center of scientific study. Most recently, analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of the Huntington Mammoth suggested that there was much more interbreeding between Columbian and Wooly Mammoths than researchers previously thought (http://genomebiology.com/content/12/5/R51). Somewhere in his ancestry, at least one of the Huntington Mammoth’s great-grandmas was a wooly, previously thought to be a distinct species. A new study is underway to look at the nuclear DNA of this remarkably preserved specimen. This study may shed further light on the complex evolutionary history of these incredible North American elephants.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Solving a Dinosaur Quandary with Modern Methods
PRESS RELEASE
August 2, 2013
Christine
K. Trease, 435-613-5757: christine.trease@usu.edu
Solving a Dinosaur
Quandary with Modern Methods
Ever since the discovery in 1909 of
what is now called Dinosaur National Monument in 1909, people have wondered how
the thousands of fossilized dinosaur bones accumulated. In the first of its kind in-depth study, Utah
State University Eastern paleontologist Kenneth Carpenter thinks he may finally
have the answer.
“I approached this study differently
than has been done in the past,” Carpenter said, “by including old archival
photographs, letters, maps, and notebooks of Carnegie Museum paleontologist
Earl Douglass.” Douglass is credited with the discovery of the site, which
President Woodrow Wilson made into a National Monument in 1915. Laboring for 13
years, Douglass and a small team of men removed hundreds of tons of fossilized
bones from near Vernal, Utah and shipped them east to the Carnegie Museum in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.. Carpenter noted that the most complete skeletons on
display at the Carnegie Museum come from the large portion of the rocky
hillside stripped away by Douglass. “What remains today is only a small portion
of what was originally there,” Carpenter added. As a result, Carpenter believes
that any study of the current quarry at the Monument Visitor Center can only
tell a small part of the story.
Studying the sandstone that still
adheres to some of the dinosaur bones Douglass had collected, as well as
conducting field work in and around the Quarry Visitor Center, Carpenter
realized that the dinosaur bones did not accumulate in a lazy meandering river
as some geologists thought, but in a braided river like the Platte River in
southern Nebraska. By using freely available software by the Army Corps of
Engineers, Carpenter modeled on a computer the ancient river that ran through
the quarry (the Quarry River) after the Platte River. Seeding the bottom of the
virtual river with dinosaur bones, Carpenter was amazed that hundreds of bones
scattered across a section of river bottom had a greater influence on the river
than a single large dinosaur carcass. Carpenter also used a strain gauge to
measure the amount of force needed to move weighed casts of various dinosaur
bones along the river bottom. These results gave an estimate of the amount of
water flow and the speed of the ancient river that would have been needed to
move the bones downstream from their carcasses.
Carpenter also concluded that the
alignment of bones indicated the ancient river flowed south-southeast. This
interpretation is based on a new map of the bone deposits created using
Douglass’ original quarry map, supplemented with archival photographs of the
excavations by Douglass and some taken later in the 1950s and 1960s by the
National Park Service.
Previous studies concluded that the
Quarry River flowed to the east, “But that was because people were not looking
at the whole picture,” Carpenter said. “This interpretation of the type of
river and the direction of flow is also supported by the elongate shape of underwater
sand dunes like those seen in the Platte River.” These dunes preserved in the
sandstone can be seen in the archival photographs, as well as in and around the
Visitor Center Quarry. To see them, however, “you have to tilt your head to see
the sandstone beds as if they were horizontal, the way they were deposited,”
Carpenter added. Today, the beds are tipped at an angle of 70 degrees, which is
what makes viewing the dinosaur bone deposit possible today in the new Visitor
Center. The new building was opened in October, 2011, after 18 months of
construction to replace the condemned fifty year-old visitor center.
The new map Carpenter produced also
showed that many of the bones seen today at the Monument belong to some of the
incomplete skeletons removed by Douglass. The individual bones remaining in the
Quarry had been pushed downstream of the main skeletons by the ancient Quarry
River. Carpenter thinks he has solved a
mystery of why so many individual dinosaurs were found there. He noted that the
bones and skeletons showed a similar pattern of bone scattering as that of as
cattle killed during a prolonged drought in Africa. Animals that died early in
the drought had a longer time to decay, and their bones were more scattered
than animals that died later. The most likely scenario for the fossils in the
Quarry is that the dinosaurs died at various times in a shrinking river, where
they had sought refuge. Lacking sweat glands, they probably could not venture
far from water. By depleting the vegetation within walking distance, many of
the dinosaurs eventually starved. Their rotting bodies polluted the water,
making the situation worse by making the animals drinking the water sick.
Evidence that some of the dinosaurs
were sick is seen in the posture of some of the skeletons. The neck is pulled
back over the body, and the legs pulled up close. Carpenter documents the same
posture in a modern ostrich an hour after its death. .
“The quarry at Dinosaur National
Monument is a remarkable snapshot of the prehistoric past. At least three
different layers of bones are preserved and these show repeated episodes of
drought 150 million years ago,” Carpenter concluded.
The study, History, sedimentology, and taphonomy of the Carnegie Quarry, Dinosaur
National Monument, Utah, appears in the Annals of the Carnegie Museum.
###
Prehistoric
Museum
Utah State
University – Eastern
155 East
Main, Price, Utah 84501 USA
usueastern.edu/museum
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Actual Mammoth Bone Soon To Be On Display
Lloyd Logan, the Prehistoric Museum's Director of Education and Exhibits works on a new exhibit for the Huntington Mammoth. Actual bone will now be on display. The Exhibit premiers at the
Huntington Mammoth 25th Anniversary Celebration
August 8, 2013
6:00 pm
Prehistoric Museum-Hall of Archaeology
155 East Main Street
Price, Utah 84501
New Exhibit Unveiling
Video of the actual discovery
Lecture: The Huntington Mammoth: Past, Present, and Future by Dr. Tim Riley
Refreshments
This event is FREE and the public is invited to attend
In celebration of The
25th anniversary of the Huntington Mammoth’s discovery, the
Prehistoric Museum invites you to attend an event in honor of the mammoth’s
unearthing.
Be among the first to see three newly renovated exhibits
that museum staff have been updating for this occasion. These exhibits will be unveiled at the
beginning of the event and focus on the Ice Age, Huntington Mammoth, and
Paleoindians.
Immediately following the exhibit opening, the museum’s own
Curator of Archaeology Dr. Tim Riley will share a video about the mammoth’s
discovery and give a short lecture about the current research being done on the
mammoth.
Castle Valley Archaeological Society (CVAS) will also
sponsor a reception after the lecture.
This is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate such an important specimen.
Contact Christine K. Trease
Director of Public Relations
(435) 613-5757
christine.trease@usu.edu
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Huntington Mammoth 25th Anniversary Celebration
The Prehistoric
Museum invites you to the
Huntington Mammoth 25th
Anniversary Celebration
August 8, 2013
6:00 pm
Prehistoric Museum-Hall of Archaeology
155 East Main Street
Price, Utah 84501
New Exhibit Unveiling
Video of the actual discovery
Lecture: The Huntington Mammoth: Past, Present, and Future
by Dr. Tim Riley
Refreshments
This event is FREE and the public is invited to attend
In celebration of The
25th anniversary of the Huntington Mammoth’s discovery, the
Prehistoric Museum invites you to attend an event in honor of the mammoth’s
unearthing.
Be among the first to see three newly renovated exhibits
that museum staff have been updating for this occasion. These exhibits will be unveiled at the
beginning of the event and focus on the Ice Age, Huntington Mammoth, and
Paleoindians.
Immediately following the exhibit opening, the museum’s own
Curator of Archaeology Dr. Tim Riley will share a video about the mammoth’s
discovery and give a short lecture about the current research being done on the
mammoth.
Castle Valley Archaeological Society (CVAS) will also
sponsor a reception after the lecture.
This is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate such an important specimen.
Contact Christine K. Trease
Director of Public Relations
(435) 613-5757
christine.trease@usu.edu
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Museum Director Identifies Giant Marine Reptile
New Giant Marine Reptile Identified.
Artistic rendering by Ken Carpenter of Megacephalosaurus eulerti in pursuit of prey.
Dr. Ken Carpenter, the curator of paleontology and museum director and two of his colleagues identify new giant marine reptile.
For more information click on the link below.
http://eastern.usu.edu/price/htm/news/articleid=21380
Artistic rendering by Ken Carpenter of Megacephalosaurus eulerti in pursuit of prey.
Dr. Ken Carpenter, the curator of paleontology and museum director and two of his colleagues identify new giant marine reptile.
For more information click on the link below.
http://eastern.usu.edu/price/htm/news/articleid=21380
See the new Peloroplites cedrimontanus at the Prehistoric Museum
Visit the museum and see the skeleton of one of the largest known armored dinosaurs in its new home at Utah State University Eastern Prehistoric Museum.
The never-before-seen skeleton is of one of the largest armored dinosaurs ever found. B...ristling with spikes, Peloroplites cedrimontanus was well defended against predators looking for a quick lunch. Its name means “armored monster from the Cedar Mountain,” in reference to the formation from which the bones were found.
Peloroplites adds to a growing number of ankylosaur dinosaurs from Utah.
“There are more species of ankylosaurs in Utah than in any other state,” said Kenneth Carpenter, USU Eastern Museum director and dinosaur paleontologist. “Only Mongolia and China have us beat.”
See this spectacular dinosaur skeleton Monday through Saturday 9 am to 5 pm (general admission rates apply).
Saturday, July 13, 2013
The Prehistoric Museum is pleased to be a part of the Blue Star Museums program
The Prehistoric Museum is pleased to be a part of the Blue Star Museums program to offer free admission to all active duty military personnel
(must show active military ID) and their families through Labor Day 2013, (September 2nd).
155 East Main Street - Price, Utah
Monday through Saturday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
More information on this program can be found at http://www.bluestarfam.org/Programs/Blue_Star_Museums
The USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum Presents Terry Willis-Chasing The Light
The oil and acrylic paintings shown in Chasing the Light take the viewer on a multi-seasonal journey through “Castle Country”, exploring the interplay of light, shadow, and snow that show off this unique landscape at its best.
The exhibition will be on display in the museum gallery through September 6, 2013
155 East Main Street - Price, Utah
Monday through Saturday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
(general admission rates apply)
The exhibition will be on display in the museum gallery through September 6, 2013
155 East Main Street - Price, Utah
Monday through Saturday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
(general admission rates apply)
Saturday, July 6, 2013
We offer you the best of BOTH worlds!
Archaeology
Explore the new Archaeology
exhibit
See the newly discovered 9 Mile
vessel
Check out the recently renovated pithouse
Paleontology
Watch the Stegosaurus
reconstruction
See the new giant ankylosaur
Check out the giant clam (over 4’
wide)
There’s No Time Like The Past!
155 East Main Street
– Price, Utah
Open 9
am to 5 pm Monday - Saturday,
closed Sunday
(general admission rates apply)
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum To Participate In Blue Star Museums
PRESS
RELEASE
USU Eastern
Prehistoric Museum To Participate In Blue Star Museums
The
Prehistoric Museum is one of more than 1,800 museums across America to offer
free admission to military personnel and their families this summer in
collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, and
the Department of Defense
Price , Utah -
May 6, 203 – Today the Prehistoric Museum announced the launch of Blue Star
Museums, a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star
Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 1,800 museums across America
to offer free admission to all active duty military personnel (must
show active military ID) and their families from
Memorial Day through Labor Day 2013.
Leadership
support has been provided by MetLife Foundation through Blue Star Families. The
complete list of participating museums is available at www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.
Dr. Ken Carpenter, the museum
director and paleontologist said, “It is with great pleasure that we
participate in this wonderful program. We thank our military for all that they
do. This is just one way of giving back to them. We hope our military families
are able to take advantage of this opportunity to see our museum at no cost.”
Prehistoric Museum is located at
155 East Main Street, Price, Utah and the hours of operation are Monday through
Saturday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
###
Prehistoric
Museum
Utah
State University – Eastern
155 East
Main, Price, Utah 84501 USA
usueastern.edu/museum
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