Russell Cave National Monument

A partnership between Georgia State University and the NPS Paleontology Program has enabled more focused paleontological resource support in parks in the Southeast Region of the U.S. During the past several years students mentored by Dr. Christy Visaggi have helped to complete paleontological resource inventories in several parks in the southeast region uncovering the fossil records of these parks.

Warming weather and over-hunting led to the extinction of the mega faunas, pushing the natives to rely more on plants, nuts, and seeds for sources of food. They made tools such as bone awls, bone fishhooks, atlatls, corded twines, and more intricate stone points.

Enjoy a fun activity and learn about caves even when you can't get out to a park. In this activity you will build your own cave and learn how to make it like a "real" natural cave. Find out about cave formations and wildlife, and how to be safe and care for caves. New "Blanket Cave National Youth Parks" are springing up all across America! Join the fun!

During this time people lived in small towns based on shared political, agricultural, and spiritual belief systems. They also built larger mounds, traded items, farmed corn extensively, and performed spiritual rituals.

The extensive caves of Mammoth Cave and Wind Cave national parks developed in limestone deposited during the Mississippian. Warm, shallow seas covered much of North America, which was close to the equator.

Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park. Links to products from Baseline Geologic and Soil Resources Inventories provide access to maps and reports.

The first inhabitants of Russell Cave arrived during this period. People lived in small group following a nomadic lifestyle, hunted Ice Age megafaunas, fished, and foraged berries and nuts.

During the Paleozoic Era (541 to 252 million years ago), fish diversified and marine organisms were very abundant. In North America, the Paleozoic is characterized by multiple advances and retreats of shallow seas and repeated continental collisions that formed the Appalachian Mountains. Common Paleozoic fossils include trilobites and cephalopods such as squid, as well as insects and ferns. The greatest mass extinction in Earth's history ended this era.