MASTODONS IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE! THE DISCOVERY OF PALEONTOLOGICAL SITES IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE BY OLIVIA THOMPSON

We are pleased to announce that we have a special presentation for our August meeting. Our very own Rutherford County Archaeological Society President, Olivia Thompson, will be our guest speaker.  Her presentation, which will also including slides, is entitled “Mastodons in Middle Tennessee: The Discovery of the Paleontological Sites Throughout the State.” 

       Ms.Thompson will be sharing specific information about the mastodon jawbone that was found in Bellevue, Tennessee at the Little Harpeth River. This specimen is also currently on display in the First Peoples gallery at the Tennessee State Museum. She will also discuss the Coats-Hines site, the Gray Fossil site, and other  locations where mastodons were discovered in the Tennessee. In addition, based on the archaeological record, she will discuss what life was like for Native Americans living in Tennessee during the Paleoindian period, beginning around 15,000 years ago. This was a time when mastodons had already been here much earlier and were still roaming the area before coming extinct a few thousand years later.