Something is always going on at the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center, and this week was no exception. My sister Robin, my cousin Elaine and I visited to listen to a standing room only presentation by archaeologist Dr. Richard Michael Gramly

concerning finds at Blue Licks Battlefield State Park.

I mentioned on these pages before my decades-long interest in the Park and ancient finds there, such as the mastodon bones in the Park’s museum. Those bones were found circa 1900. Since then there have been subsequent digs at Blue Licks, but little success in furthering knowledge of the area’s history.

Dr. Gramly hopes to change that, with renewed digging in the region adjacent to the park. The abstract from a column by Gramly “described two sleds, presumed to date to the time of the Clovis (Llano) archaeological culture or approximately 13,500-12,500 years ago, that were discovered at saline springs in New York state and Kentucky state.”

“For what purpose these sleds may have been intended and why they were abandoned are addressed by referring to eastern Eurasian ethnography. The proboscidean components used in their construction may have restricted use of these sleds to ritual activities (Gramly, R.M., Harrod, J.B., Late Pleistocene, Upper Paleolithic Sleds from eastern North America. L’anthropologie [2022]).”

Proboscidea are an order of mammals that include elephants and mastodons. Dr. Gramly posits they were revered by the humans of that era, so much so that when they were harvested, every part of the mammal’s body was utilized, whether for clothing or food or as sleds for the movement of bodies in ritual ceremonies.

The presentation included photos of items found at Blue Licks, such as a “mastodon tooth sculpted and polished as a quadruped” and “possible conjoined fragments from a diadem (head-band) made from tusk cementum (likely mammoth).” Radiocarbon dated the artifacts to around 32-thousand years ago. I look forward to following Dr. Gramly’s progress in the future.

There are so many things of interest at the Museum Center. Ron Bailey’s Tuesday “All Things Maysville” get-together provide the perfect skull session, with Ron sharing his voluminous knowledge of the area, as well as receiving tidbits from visitors to the sessions. You can join the fun in the Still Room of the Limestone Building each Tuesday from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

While you are there, be sure and check out the Spring exhibit “Banking in the Buffalo Trace” in the Wormald Gallery. The exhibit features items from the community banks in our area. Fred Hester’s collection of Kentucky Derby glasses are on display in the Calvert Hallway.

Exhibits curator Marla Toncray has put together a great collection of memorabilia focused on the Clooney family. Of course, the Kathleen Savage Browning miniatures gallery is constantly changing with the seasons, guaranteeing you will not see the same exhibit twice. Plus, the research library is chock full of books, papers and more to help you find out more about your ancestry.

And with the unofficial start to Summer upon us, the Museum Center would be a wonderful place to take visiting relatives. Visit kygmc.org to see everything available on display for you to enjoy. Do it now – before tomorrow becomes yesterday .