Grimes Point facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Grimes Point
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Grimes Point, Nevada
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| Nearest city | Fallon, Nevada |
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| Area | 720 acres (290 ha) |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000763 |
| Added to NRHP | February 23, 1972 |
Grimes Point is a very old and important archeological site in Churchill County, Nevada, near Fallon, Nevada. It covers about 720 acres. This special place was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It's important because it can teach us a lot about people who lived there long, long ago.
Along the 'Grimes Point Trail', you can see many amazing petroglyphs. These are ancient drawings carved into rocks. The Bureau of Land Management takes care of this land.
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Discovering Ancient History
In 1939, people digging for guano (bat droppings) found a small rock shelter at Grimes Point. This shelter was named Grimes Burial Shelter. It is located east of Fallon, Nevada. It is also just south of the Spirit Cave, where the famous Spirit Cave mummy was found.
Archaeologists found some special woven mats at Grimes Point. These mats had a unique "diamond plaiting" pattern. In 1995, scientists used special tests to find out how old they were. The mats were about 9,470 years old!
Ancient Human Discoveries
Inside the shelter, archaeologists also found the well-preserved remains of a child. The child was about ten years old. They also found small pieces of an older person.
Scientists Richard Jantz and Douglas Owsley studied these remains more closely. Their work helps us understand more about the people who lived here thousands of years ago.
What is the Grimes Point Area?
Grimes Point is part of a much larger area with many old sites. This area includes different caves, shelters, and other important archeological spots. The site is on what used to be the shoreline of a huge ancient lake called Lake Lahontan. This lake existed during the Pleistocene Ice Age.
Grimes Point is famous for its "cupules." These are small, round pits dug into the rock surface. You can find hundreds of these cupules on boulders all over the area.
Oldest Rock Art Style
Archaeologists Robert Heizer and Martin Baumhoff studied this site. They used Grimes Point to help define a style of rock art called "Pit and Groove Style." Many experts believe this is the oldest type of rock art found in Nevada.
This style shares features with other very old rock art in the Great Basin area, called "Great Basin Carved Abstract." The carvings in this style are often deeper and wider than other, newer types of rock art. This difference helps scientists tell how old the art might be.
Another archaeologist, Karen Nissen, also studied the rock art at Grimes Point. She thought that this rock art was often made in places where people hunted. While this idea was popular for a while, scientists have other ideas today.
You can visit Grimes Point! It is located off U.S. 50, east of Fallon. It is open to the public all year.
Gallery
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The ancient shoreline, bench (geology) or wave-cut platform, of Lake Lahontan may be seen in the background
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Petroglyphs at Grimes Point, Nevada
