| Big Bone Lick State Park | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Location in Kentucky  Big Bone Lick State Park (the United States) | |
| Type | Kentucky state park |
| Location | Boone County, Kentucky |
| Nearest city | Union, Kentucky |
| Coordinates | 38°53′13″N 84°44′52″W / 38.88694°N 84.74778°W |
| Area | 525 acres (212 ha)[1] |
| Elevation | 469 feet (143 m)[2] |
| Created | 1960[1][3] |
| Operated by | Kentucky Department of Parks |
| Open | Year-round |
| NRHP reference No. | 72001585[4] |
| Added to NRHP | June 13, 1972 |
| Designated | 2009 |
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]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
historywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Big Bone Lick State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Big Bone Lick State Park - Ice Age Mammoths of Kentucky - The Birthplace of American Paleontology". www.fossilguy.com. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
- ^ 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]
- ^ "Quaternary Period". Kentucky Geological Survey. University of Kentucky. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
- ^ "Mammalia, Fossils, Kentucky Geological Survey, University of Kentucky". www.uky.edu. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
- ^ "Big Bone Lick and Benjamin Frankin and Thomas Jefferson". www.uky.edu. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Hedeenwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Kentuckywas invoked but never defined (see the help page).