FOSSIL DAY IS JUNE 7 AT MASTODON STATE HISTORIC SITE

JEFFERSON CITY, MO., MAY 21, 2008 -- Enjoy a family outing looking for and learning about fossils. Mastodon State Historic Site in Imperial will host Fossil Day from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 7. Sponsored by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the event is free and open to the public.

Bring the entire family to hunt through fossil-bearing gravel piles, donated by Martin Marietta Aggregates. You can search for fossils or bring fossils with you to have them identified. The Eastern Missouri Society of Paleontology will have exhibits on Missouri fossils and displays of fossils spanning the geologic history of Missouri. Visitors will also be able to visit the site's recently opened Museum Annex, which features a special exhibit on cave formation and springs and hands-on activities for children. Highlights of the event will be hourly tours to the former excavation site and free admission to the site's museum, which displays ancient artifacts, fossils and a mastodon skeleton replica.

Mastodon State Historic Site contains the Kimmswick Bone Bed, a paleontological site listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Archaeological excavations established that Paleo-Indians hunted the American mastodon and other animals here during the ice age. The historic site is located 20 miles south of St. Louis, off Interstate 55 at the Imperial Main Street Exit (#186).

For more information about the event, contact the historic site at 636-464-2976 or the Department of Natural Resources toll free at 800-334-6946 (voice) or 800-379-2419 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf). For more information about Missouri state parks and historic sites, visit the Web at www.mostateparks.com.

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