By Staff Writer Trevon Dowling
The Blackwater Draw National Historic Landmark and Museum will celebrate Prehistory Day on Saturday, April 22 with a free event for the public as part of New Mexico Heritage Preservation Month.
Thousands of years ago in the Pleistocene Epoch, the environment of New Mexico was much lusher and more vibrant than it is today, with vast lakes, wetlands, and grasslands covering the landscape. Ancient humans inhabited this area alongside herbivorous megafauna such as mammoths, bison, camels and ground sloths, while contending with fierce predators such as dire wolves, American lions, and saber-toothed cats. Humans lived in cooperative hunter-gatherer societies, crafting what they needed to survive from the environment and the animals they killed.
At Prehistory Day 2023, visitors will get to experience firsthand some of the traditional techniques used by these ancient humans, providing a valuable learning opportunity and perhaps a new perspective on the vast differences between ancient and modern life.
Visitors to Prehistory Day will enjoy special opportunities to engage in a wide variety of activities to simulate the lives of the people who once inhabited what is now New Mexico. Craftsmanship activities including leather crafts, yucca crafts, and pottery will be available, and visitors will get to make their own necklaces out of beads made of bison teeth.
In addition, visitors may take part in activities which represent the vigorous hunter-gatherer lifestyle of the ancient inhabitants of New Mexico. These will include flint knapping (the practice of chipping stones into usable tools and weapons) and corn grinding, as well as an atlatl-throwing activity, simulating the way these ancient hunters were able to hunt and kill beasts much larger, faster and more powerful than themselves.
Prehistory Day 2023 will mark the debut of Blackwater Draw’s new audio tour, which has been in the works for some time. Visitors may enjoy a tour of the facility’s excavation area with the director, and learn more through discussions with experts and students. There will also be face painting, a photo booth, a scavenger hunt and a raffle to participate in.
Blackwater Draw National Historic Landmark and Museum will open at 9:00 PM on Saturday, April 22. Demonstrations will be held between 10:00 PM and 2:00 PM. Admission is free and families are welcome. If you have questions, call 575-562-2202.