ArcaMax

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By Victor Block

A new exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science is attracting both city residents and visitors interested in seeing one of the most exciting paleontologists' finds in recent years. This is the partial skeleton of a juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex, a dinosaur which experts tell us lived about 67 million years ago and showed up in the rugged terrain of the North Dakota Badlands.

This cadaver is one of a number of remains and reminders of animals, humans, ships and other objects that tell stories of years -- and in some cases eons -- gone by. Whether you're a serious scientist or someone with an interest in reliving the past through tangible evidence, new opportunities abound throughout the United States to satisfy your curiosity. They can add a new dimension to a trip taken for pleasure or business.

One upside to drought conditions impacting some regions of the country is that receding waters recently have uncovered previously submerged tracks of dinosaurs. For example, footprints that were laid down more than 110 million years ago have surfaced in Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas. They belong to long-necked, long-tailed Sauropods, believed to be the largest land animals to have lived, and Theropods, 3- to 5-ton beasts that stalked their victims on two legs.

While tracks made by ground sloths and one of the largest species of mammoths are an attraction at White Sands National Park in New Mexico, of greater interest to many park-goers are 61 fossilized human footprints. According to recent radiocarbon dating, they were made between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago, making them one of -- if not the -- oldest evidence of homo sapiens on this continent.

The recent discovery of another record of human participation in America's past tells a dark story. "Slave tags" were small metal badges produced in Charleston, South Carolina, between 1809 and the Civil War. They were worn by enslaved people and engraved with the word "servant" and the kind of work that person was allowed to do. Students at the College of Charleston uncovered a tag during recent excavation for the installation of a solar panel on campus. A collection of these metal marks is displayed at the College's Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture.

The drought-caused retreating water of lakes and rivers also is contributing to the treasure-trove of old artifacts. More than 6,000 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes have claimed an estimated 30,000 lives over the years, and searches by archaeologists have located some of these vessels.

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society recently announced discovery of the Atlanta, a three-masted schooner barge, 650 feet below the surface of Lake Superior. The 172-foot-long vessel sank in 1891, when it was caught in a strong gale. According to the society's director, "It is rare that we find a shipwreck that so clearly announces what it is, and the name board of the Atlanta really stands out."

Before the start of World War II, a boat-builder named Andrew Higgins began manufacturing small watercraft that were designed to operate in shallow marsh areas of Louisiana. After war broke out, he switched to making what came to be known as the Higgins Boat. These bargelike vessels ferried soldiers close to shore, where they exited onto land by running down a lowered ramp.

The landing craft were used extensively by U.S. and Allied troops, and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower praised their inventor as "the man who won the war for us." One of these unique landing crafts has been found beneath the retreating surface of Lake Mead on the Arizona-Nevada border. The serial number on its bow indicates that the vessel was assigned to the ship that served as headquarters for Gen. George S. Patton during the invasion of Sicily in 1943. Higgins was a native of Nebraska, and in his honor the boat that carries his name is on display at the National Guard Museum in Columbus, Nebraska.

A much older story has come to light when several ancient dugout canoes were found at the bottom of Lake Mendota in Wisconsin. The oldest boat is estimated to have been built about 4,500 years ago, probably by ancestors of modern Indigenous people. Researchers believe that the owners would sink their canoes in shallow water in the fall to preserve them throughout the winter, then refloat the boats the following spring. The Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison is the steward of these vessels.

A nearly mile-long canal in Alabama that was dug for canoes to use has been dated back some 1,400 years. Residents of the beachside resort town of Gulf Shores long have referred to an unusual feature in the local landscape as "Indian Ditch." Now archaeologists have verified that the 30-foot-wide trench was dug by Native Americans, probably residents of a small village that was located near the waterway. The canal enabled inhabitants to paddle to rich fishing grounds and access major trade routes without having to face the rough water of the Gulf of Mexico.

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WHEN YOU GO

dmns.org

tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/dinosaur-valley

nps.gov/whsa

avery.charleston.edu

shipwreckmuseum.com

ne.ng.mil

wisconsinhistory.org

gulfshoresal.gov

visitnebraska.com

wisconsinhistory.org

Victor Block is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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