College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum
Encyclopedia
The USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum, formerly known as the College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum, is a museum accredited by the American Association of Museums
located in Price
, Utah
. The museum seeks to promote public understanding of prehistory through interpretive exhibits, educational programs, collections, and research. The museum is located near many paleontological and archaeological sites in a region known as Castle Country, notably in the San Rafael Swell
and nearby canyons throughout the Book Cliffs area such as Nine Mile Canyon
and Range Creek
Canyon.
and the community of Price. On May 8, 1961 the Board of Regents established the museum. At that time funding for the museum was supplied by the geology department at the college. The museum officially opened to the public on June 3, 1961, on the second floor of the Price Municipal Building in a small converted conference room. After expanding into the hallways of the City Hall it moved into the old city gymnasium in 1971.
In later years, the museum became an appropriated line item through the State of Utah. In 1990-91, the appropriation for the museum was greatly increased because of the tremendous expansion of the museum. A new addition was opened, later to become the Hall of Dinosaurs.
Through these two separate expansions during its 45-year history, the museum has become a 25000 square feet (2,322.6 m²) facility with another 6000 square feet (557.4 m²) repository and paleontology preparation laboratory.
An ongoing program of paleontology fieldwork and excavation begun in 1990 has produced 12 new species of dinosaurs and over 7,000 paleontologic specimens. Federal and state accreditation followed in 1991, allowing the museum to reposit collections from across Utah. Renewed interest in dinosaurs and a popular culture boom brought thousands more visitors down the Dinosaur Diamond Scenic Byway
and to the museum in the 1990s.
New development in Utah and the renaissance in dinosaur research has resulted in huge new finds and exciting new levels of interest. The museum now serves as an important repository housing over 750,000 prehistoric specimens from around the state.
The Museum is a pre-eminent educational, research, recreational, and cultural institution in Southeastern Utah. The collections and exhibits focus on specimens indigenous to the region and include:
American Association of Museums
The American Association of Museums is a non-profit association that has brought museums together since its founding in 1906, helping develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and advocating on issues of concern to the museum community...
located in Price
Price, Utah
Price is a city in Carbon County, Utah, United States. The city is home to the USU-College of Eastern Utah, as well as the large USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum affiliated with the college. Price is located within short distances from both Nine Mile Canyon and the Manti-La Sal National Forest...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. The museum seeks to promote public understanding of prehistory through interpretive exhibits, educational programs, collections, and research. The museum is located near many paleontological and archaeological sites in a region known as Castle Country, notably in the San Rafael Swell
San Rafael Swell
The San Rafael Swell is a large geologic feature located in south-central Utah, USA about 30 miles west of Green River, Utah. The San Rafael Swell, approximately by , consists of a giant dome-shaped anticline of sandstone, shale, and limestone that was pushed up during the Paleocene Laramide...
and nearby canyons throughout the Book Cliffs area such as Nine Mile Canyon
Nine Mile Canyon
Nine Mile Canyon is a canyon, approximately long, located in the counties of Carbon and Duchesne in eastern Utah, in the Western United States. Promoted as "the world’s longest art gallery," the canyon is known for its extensive rock art, most of it created by the Fremont culture and the Ute people...
and Range Creek
Range Creek
Range Creek, rising in the Book Cliffs in Emery County, Utah, is a high tributary of the Colorado River. It flows into the Price River near Price, Utah. The Price then flows into the Green River, a major tributary of the Colorado...
Canyon.
History
The Prehistoric Museum was established in 1961 as a cooperative effort by USU-College of Eastern UtahUSU-College of Eastern Utah
Utah State University-College of Eastern Utah is a public regional college within the Utah State University system. The USU Eastern main campus is located in Price, Utah and a satellite location known as the San Juan Campus is located in Blanding, Utah.USU Eastern, formerly known as College of...
and the community of Price. On May 8, 1961 the Board of Regents established the museum. At that time funding for the museum was supplied by the geology department at the college. The museum officially opened to the public on June 3, 1961, on the second floor of the Price Municipal Building in a small converted conference room. After expanding into the hallways of the City Hall it moved into the old city gymnasium in 1971.
In later years, the museum became an appropriated line item through the State of Utah. In 1990-91, the appropriation for the museum was greatly increased because of the tremendous expansion of the museum. A new addition was opened, later to become the Hall of Dinosaurs.
Through these two separate expansions during its 45-year history, the museum has become a 25000 square feet (2,322.6 m²) facility with another 6000 square feet (557.4 m²) repository and paleontology preparation laboratory.
An ongoing program of paleontology fieldwork and excavation begun in 1990 has produced 12 new species of dinosaurs and over 7,000 paleontologic specimens. Federal and state accreditation followed in 1991, allowing the museum to reposit collections from across Utah. Renewed interest in dinosaurs and a popular culture boom brought thousands more visitors down the Dinosaur Diamond Scenic Byway
Dinosaur Diamond Scenic Byway
The Dinosaur Diamond Scenic Byway is a 512-mile National Scenic Byway in the U.S. states of Utah and Colorado. The highway forms a diamond-shaped loop with vertices at Moab, Helper, Vernal and Grand Junction....
and to the museum in the 1990s.
New development in Utah and the renaissance in dinosaur research has resulted in huge new finds and exciting new levels of interest. The museum now serves as an important repository housing over 750,000 prehistoric specimens from around the state.
Features
The Museum's national accreditation by the American Association of Museums distinguishes it as fewer than 10% of museums awarded such accreditation. As a state and federal repository for both paleontological and archaeological collections, the museum’s holdings include more than 700,000 archaeological artifacts, comprising one of the largest and most significant collections in the country. Many of these artifacts, such as those left by the indigenous Fremont people, have become world-renowned. The Museum’s paleontological collection includes type specimens and fossil finds new to science.The Museum is a pre-eminent educational, research, recreational, and cultural institution in Southeastern Utah. The collections and exhibits focus on specimens indigenous to the region and include:
- Fremont cultureFremont cultureThe Fremont culture or Fremont people is a pre-Columbian archaeological culture which received its name from the Fremont River in the U.S. state of Utah where the first Fremont sites were discovered. The Fremont River itself is named for John Charles Frémont, an American explorer. It inhabited...
exhibits such as rock art reproductions and the famous Pilling FigurinesPilling FigurinesThe Pilling Figurines are a set of eleven clay figurines made by the Fremont culture. They were discovered in 1950 by Clarence Pilling under a rock overhang in a side canyon of Range Creek, Utah. Ten of figurines are currently on display at the College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum in Price,... - Comprehensive display of Utah’s Ice Age ecology and Paleoindian presence
- The Huntington Mammoth, best-known and one of best-kept of all fossil elephants
- UtahraptorUtahraptorUtahraptor is a genus of theropod dinosaurs, including the largest known members of the family Dromaeosauridae. Fossil specimens date to the upper Barremian stage of the early Cretaceous period...
and a dozen other new dinosaurs, several percent of known global diversity
See also
- Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur QuarryCleveland Lloyd Dinosaur QuarryThe Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry National Natural Landmark, located in The San Rafael Swell, near Cleveland, Utah contains the densest concentration of Jurassic dinosaur fossils ever found. Well over 15,000 bones have been excavated from this Jurassic 'predator trap' and there are many...
— specimens collected from this location are on display at the USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum