Prehistory exhibit opens at IU

A new exhibit at the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology just might have IU students and Bloomington residents digging in their yards this summer. The laboratory opened its doors to "Pleistocene Environment and Paleoindian Culture of Indiana," which presents art and images of people and animals that inhabited Indiana at the end of the last Ice Age nearly 10,000 years ago. \nWalking through the exhibit, visitors can get a close look at the tools made by Indiana's first Hoosiers and fossils from the animals that roamed the region's hills.\nThe first tour took place two weeks ago for about 100 fifth and sixth-graders from Templeton Elementary School. \nSuzanne Justice, archaeology archivist program coordinator for the laboratory, said even though the kids came in expecting dinosaurs, they didn't leave disappointed.\n"I think the kids, especially when they go and make the stone tools, just really get excited," said Justice. "Especially the boys, they really just think that's the grooviest thing."\nBecause the pieces are so large in size and require cautious handling, special arrangements had to be made to provide them adequate protection in their new home, Justice said. Hoffman Design Works owner Drew Hoffman partnered up with Blackberry Press Graphics to create a case to hold the highly valuable pieces. Hoffman said it was the first time he's encased something of historical significance, but he was just excited to have been a part of exhibit.\n"The first day, I stood back and said, 'it's absolutely the coolest thing we've done,'" said Hoffman. "I mean some of those bones are probably priceless."\nAlthough movies like "Indiana Jones" portray priceless findings in far away lands, all of the artifacts on display are from Monroe county and its neighboring counties. Justice said an abundance of bones have been found near Bedford, about 30 miles south of Bloomington.\nSophomore Heather Fleetwood drives by the digging sites next to Highway 37 on her way home to Bedford and has been noticing people searching on a daily basis.\n"Honestly, I just thought they were out there because they liked rocks," Fleetwood said. "I'm sure they were looking for something, but I didn't think it would be something major."\nAlthough the site turned out to be of importance, Fleetwood wasn't surprised things were found at the limestone capital of the world.\nOne of the larger pieces at the exhibit is a mastodon leg bone measuring at about two and-a-half feet long and weighing about 30 pounds. According to the laboratory, the accidental discovery was made near Shoals, but the exact location was never recorded. Because of this, the use is limited for archeologists trying to understand the ecology of Indiana at the end of the last ice age, and leaving the fossil for open handling.\n"This is (the part of) the exhibit that kids just end up gravitating to, because they love feeling the way the texture changes," said Justice.\nFreshman Scott Murray walks through the laboratory every week going into his aerospace lecture held right next door to the exhibit. Murray said the new exhibit caught his eye. Coming from Iowa, Murray said it was interesting to see what roamed on the Indiana landscape and what is still being dug up today.\nThe ice age project is funded in part by a U.S. Department of the Interior grant and the National Park Service Historic Preservation Fund. \nThe Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, 423 N. Fess, is open to the public Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.