This summer, an experience of prehistoric proportions is stomping into Fernbank Museum of Natural History.
Mammoths and Mastodons, an exploration of the nearly 100 real fossils and artifacts, will be on view from June 17 through August 27, 2017, along with Giant Screen film, "Titans of the Ice Age." The 7,500-square-foot exhibition and film work in tandem to bring to life how these animals lived and to provide an immersive portal to the great Pleistocene Ice Age.
Mammoths and mastodons survived for millions of years, living in temperate climates and on the wind-swept lands of the frozen north – great beasts weighing as much as eight tons and bearing tusks up to 16 feet long. Wonderfully successful creatures of the Ice Age, they were a source of food and artistic inspiration for ancient peoples who lived in Europe, Asia, and North America. But despite their size and ability to adapt to different habitats, these early cousins of the elephant eventually went extinct – leaving us an abundant fossil record. Almost 100 of these ancient fossils and artifacts can be seen in Mammoths and Mastodons, including skulls, tusks, teeth, hunting tools and Paleolithic art. The exhibition also features a replica of a 40,000-year-old baby mammoth specimen named Lyuba that was discovered by a Siberian reindeer herder and his sons in 2007.
Mammoths and Mastodons gives Museum visitors a unique opportunity to delve deeper into this Ice Age world. The exhibition showcases environments that awe and amaze through large-scale projections, walk-through dioramas, and virtual experiences. Mammoths and Mastodons features massive, fleshed-out creatures and skeletons that visitors can touch and examine up close. Also on display are rare and evocative objects including some of the oldest art in existence, huge skulls and tusks, weird and wonderful mammoth relatives – including dwarf mammoths – and mastodon bones collected by William Clark (of Lewis and Clark) for President Thomas Jefferson’s own collection. The exhibition also details the scientific methods used to study beasts from the past as well as their surviving relatives: modern-day elephants.
Museum visitors will discover answers to many questions, such as how these creatures balanced their heavy tusks, how much a mammoth ate in a day, and how elephants “talk” to each other.
Mammoths and Mastodons explores not only how these Ice Age creatures lived, forming herds similar in social structure to those of modern elephants, but also how they became extinct, by examining the roles played by climate change, human predation and other factors in their demise.
“One of the most exciting features of Mammoths and Mastodons is its ability to allow visitors to feel the colossal size and scale of these prehistoric creatures with fleshed out, full-sized replicas,” said Hannah Horrom, Fernbank’s Exhibit Designer. “Seeing these animals exactly as they stood thousands of years ago – as well as seeing nearly 100 authentic fossils and artifacts – is a stunning experience and an incredible way for visitors to understand their connection to modern relatives like elephants.”
Guests are encouraged to continue their Ice Age expedition with the film "Titans of the Ice Age," where they will be transported to the otherworldly frozen landscapes of the northern hemisphere 10,000 years before modern civilization.
"Titans of the Ice Age" brings this harsh and beautiful era to life – a world buried in our ancestral memory, populated by saber-tooth cats, giant sloths, dire wolves and the iconic woolly mammoths. Through the power of CGI, viewers will roam the mammoth steppe with baby Lyuba – the very same female Woolly Mammoth calf featured in Mammoths and Mastodons – and discover the story of Zed, one of the most complete Colombian Mammoth skeletons ever uncovered, extracted in 2008 from the famous La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.
Remarkable backdrops shot on location at Yellowstone National Park, the Northern Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains and Alaska provide the scenery on which the drama of the Pleistocene unfolds. State-of-the-art, ultra-HD CGI allows long-extinct Ice Age mammals to populate this world in photorealistic detail alongside Paleolithic humans, played by native Iñupiat and Yup’ik Alaskans.
“Audiences will experience the world of these prehistoric animals with a realism that only this canvas can provide,” said Andy Wood, the film’s producer. “We are really proud to have worked with a distinguished team of scientists and partners to tell this story. The end result is a film that is both highly entertaining and revealing.”
SPECIAL PROGRAMMING: Ice Age Fest will take place on Saturday, June 17 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. in celebration of Mammoths and Mastodons and "Titans of the Ice Age." The coolest family event of the summer, Ice Age Fest will allow guests to chill out and dive into the history of these mighty beasts through hands-on activities, including crafts, games, treats and demonstrations.
Additionally, guests can enjoy Mammoths and Mastodons and "Titans of the Ice Age" during Fernbank's after-hours, adults-only event, Fernbank After Dark. Featuring exclusive Museum access for ages 21+, Fernbank After Dark is a monthly event curated for young professionals to offer a variety of unique after-hours experiences, including evening access to Museum exhibitions, live music, full bars, tapas menus, films in the Giant Screen Theater, and all-new science discoveries. Activities and science themes change regularly along with a variety of fun and immersive programming.
HOURS AND TICKETS: Mammoths and Mastodons is included with Museum admission. Tickets are $18 for adults, $17 for seniors, $16 for children ages 3-12, free for children 2 and under, and free for Fernbank members.
"Titans of the Ice Age" shows daily in Fernbank's Giant Screen Theater from June 17 – August 27 and requires a separate ticket. For exact show times and to watch the trailer, visit Fernbank's website. Giant Screen Theater tickets are $13 for adults, $12 for seniors, $11 for children and $8 for Museum members.
Value Pass tickets, which include Museum admission and a giant screen film, are $22-$26.
