Come and practice your skills at the
Old Stone Fort Archaeo- Olympics
July 21st, 2012
Over thousands of years people in the Southeast practiced and honed skills that were essential for life. The art of making incredibly sharp stone tools, a process called flintknapping, gave you the tools to put food in your stomach and a roof over your head. Rope made of out of plant fibers and animal products held your world together. Skills with atlatls, blowguns, and rabbitsticks both fed and clothed you. Awareness of the plants that surround you gave you access to medicine and as well as most of your food. All these skills and practices were passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years by the many people living in the Southeast.
In celebration of Tennessee State Parks 75th anniversary, the staff at the Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park would like to invite you to participate in the Archeo-Olympics on July the 21st, 2012. Throughout history, Native American practiced various skills that provided them with food, clothing, and shelter. This one day event will include demonstrations, activities, and some friendly competition in the use of Atlatls, Rabbitsticks, Blowguns, medicinal/useful plants, animal tracking, and useful rocks and soils. The events will all start at the park’s museum, with the fist activities beginning at 8:00 AM and the final events concluding at 4:30 PM. All experience levels and ages are welcome to participate and develop their skills.
The Old Stone Fort is a 2000 year old Native American ceremonial site, which consists of nearly 4000 feet of low, wall like mounds enclosing nearly 50 acres. For about 500 years the site served as a gathering area for people living in and around the eastern Highland rim of Middle Tennessee. At the Park there is a small museum dedicated to the site and features several exhibits on the archaeological site. Also available in the museum are guidebooks to the 1 ¼ mile interpretive trail around the site, which leads along the rivers, waterfalls, and cliffs surrounding the archaeological site. The park’s 51 site campground will also be open for the event.
The Park is located off of US highway 41 in Manchester. From exit 110 on I-24 turn southwest on Highway 53 and follow the signs 1 ½ miles to the park entrance. Manchester is about halfway between Nashville and Chattanooga being about a 1 hour drive from each city.
For more information contact:
Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park
732 Stone Fort Dr.
Manchester, TN 37355
(931)723-5073
hobart.akin@tn.gov
