Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument |
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IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
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Alibates Flint Quarries
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 Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument
Location in Texas
Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument
Location in the United States
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| Location | Potter County, Texas, USA |
| Nearest city | Fritch |
| Area | 1,371 acres (5.55 km2) |
| Authorized | August 31, 1965 |
| Visitors | 8,153 (in 2016) |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument |
| Designated: | October 15, 1966 |
| Reference #: | 66000822 |
The Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument is a special protected area in Texas, USA. For thousands of years, people came to the red hills above the Canadian River to find flint. This flint was super important for their lives.
The flint found here is very good quality and has many colors, like a rainbow! People used this Alibates flint all across the Great Plains and even further away.
Contents
Ancient Flint Users
Clovis People
Long, long ago, during the Ice Age, a group of people called the Clovis people lived here. They used Alibates flint to make sharp spear points. They hunted huge animals like the imperial mammoth with these tools. This was even before the Great Lakes were formed!
How Flint Was Found
The flint is usually found just below the ground on top of ridges. It forms a layer that can be up to 6 feet thick. The places where they dug for flint, called quarries, were not very big. They were usually between 5 and 25 feet wide and 4 to 7 feet deep.
Antelope Creek People
Later, between the years 1200 and 1450 AD, another group called the Antelope Creek people used many of these quarries. These people were part of the Panhandle culture. They built houses with stone slabs and many rooms. These old houses have always been interesting to people and are studied by archaeologists today.
Visiting the Monument
Today, the National Park Service protects the Alibates Flint Quarries. You can only visit this special place on a tour led by a park ranger. You need to book your tour ahead of time.
Alibates Flint Quarries was the only national monument in Texas for a long time. Then, in 2013, the Military Working Dog Teams National Monument was created. The Alibates monument is also right next to the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, and both are managed together.
The monument was first named "Alibates Flint Quarries and Texas Panhandle Pueblo Culture National Monument" on August 31, 1965. But on November 10, 1978, its name was shortened to its current one.
