Big Bone Lick State Park

Big Bone Lick State Park
Big Bone Lick State Park is located in Kentucky
Big Bone Lick State Park
Location in Kentucky
Big Bone Lick State Park is located in the United States
Big Bone Lick State Park
Big Bone Lick State Park (the United States)
TypeKentucky state park
LocationBoone County, Kentucky
Nearest cityUnion, Kentucky
Coordinates38°53′13″N 84°44′52″W / 38.88694°N 84.74778°W / 38.88694; -84.74778
Area525 acres (212 ha)[1]
Elevation469 feet (143 m)[2]
Created1960[1][3]
Operated byKentucky Department of Parks
OpenYear-round
NRHP reference No.72001585[4]
Added to NRHPJune 13, 1972
Designated2009

Big Bone Lick State Park is located at Big Bone in Boone County, Kentucky. The name of the park comes from the Pleistocene megafauna fossils found there.[5] Mammoths are believed to have been drawn to this location by a salt lick deposited around the sulfur springs.[6] Other animals including forms of bison, caribou, deer, elk, horse, mastodon, musk ox, peccary, ground sloths, wolves, black bears, stag moose, saber-toothed cats, and possibly tapir[7] also grazed the vegetation and salty earth around the springs that the animals relied on for their diet.[8][9] The majority of fossils found in the area have been dated to the Wisconsin Glacial Period (c. 115,000 – c. 11,700 years ago).[10] Human burials and other signs of human habitation have also been uncovered.[11]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference history was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Big Bone Lick State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  3. ^ Kleber, John E., ed. (1992). "Big Bone Lick". The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Associate editors: Thomas D. Clark, Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0.
  4. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  5. ^ "Big Bone Lick State Park - Ice Age Mammoths of Kentucky - The Birthplace of American Paleontology". www.fossilguy.com. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  6. ^ Hunter, David (October 1, 2003). Shifra Stein's Day Trips from Cincinnati: Getaways Less Than Two Hours Away. Globe Pequot. p. 138. ISBN 9780762727490. Retrieved April 25, 2013.[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ "Quaternary Period". Kentucky Geological Survey. University of Kentucky. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  8. ^ "Mammalia, Fossils, Kentucky Geological Survey, University of Kentucky". www.uky.edu. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  9. ^ "Big Bone Lick and Benjamin Frankin and Thomas Jefferson". www.uky.edu. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hedeen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kentucky was invoked but never defined (see the help page).