Diorama scene from Big Bone Lick State Park, displaying extinct
North American mammals--mammoths and mastodon bones have been
found in the region Photo courtesy of the Kentucky Department of
Parks During the Pleistocene age, which occurred during the last
great Ice Age, enormous herds of herbivorous animals existed in
the vicinity of what is today Big Bone Lick State Park. The area
is recognized as the key to understanding the life of the Ice
Age on the North American continent over 10,000 years ago. The
mammoth and the mastodon were among the animals to visit the
Lick. Ancestors of the sloth, bison and horse also frequented
the area, which had vegetation and salty earth around the
springs that the animals used to supplement their diet. The land
was soft and marshy and many of the animals became mired in the
bogs and died. The area was widely known to the American
Indians, such as the Delaware and Shawnee, who inhabited the
Ohio Valley and relied on these centrally located springs for
much of their salt and a