Step into Prehistoric Times at Fernbank Museum

Story and Photos
by Kathleen Walls

On a recent trip to Atlanta for a Southeast Tourism Society Marketplace, I revisited Fernbank Museum of Natural History. This museum is a trip back in time to pre-humanoid eras. You get a view of our earth and the earliest creatures that roamed it before us humans began changing it.

Dinosaur Plaza

We parked in the side lot. Fernbank is one of the few Atlanta attractions with free parking. I approached the front entrance through Fernbank's Rain Garden and was greeted by bronze sculptures of dinosaurs. They are a subspecies of the hadrosaur known as Lophorhothon atopus that lived in Georgia during the Cretaceous Period before the earliest humans evolved. The dinosaurs are a family, the mother, the larger center one, is Georgia. The two juveniles besides her are Haddie and Ferny.

Great Hall

We stepped into the second floor of the museum and looked down at the Great Hall, which hosts Giants of the Mesozoic Exhibit. The exhibit centerpiece is a 100-ton Argentinosaurus fossil skeleton. It's almost impossible to capture a shot of the entire fossil, but the photos above captures most of it. The Great Hall is filled with skeletons of giant dinosaurs; Giganotosaurus, who was four-feet longer than Tyrannosaurus rex with a 6-foot-long skull; Anhanguera, a flying reptile, nicknamed "Old Devil"; a flock of 21 Pterodaustroa, a smaller flying reptile that roamed the earth between 145 to 165 million years ago.

The museum has a timeline of the earth and solar system from its beginnings. The fact that earliest life began about 3.8 billion years ago but the first humanoid creatures didn't evolve until around 2 to 3 million years ago, makes me feel insignificant. Our own direct ancestors, Homo Sapiens, only developed a mere 200 thousand years ago. While these dinosaurs romped around the earth over 100 million years ago.

A Walk Through Time in Georgia

A Walk Through Time in Georgia is my favorite exhibit. It's filled with dioramas that capture the sights and sounds of the state's main geographic regions. The exhibits are detailed about wildlife and plants and the geological features that make each part of Georgia unique.

And it's not just about present-day Georgia. Did you know dinosaurs once roamed prehistoric Georgia? There is everything from fossil skeletons to recreations of the giant reptiles. One is an exhibit of a cute baby dinosaur hatching from an egg. There is even a replica of a fossilized dinosaur footprint.

Conveyed in Clay

Ancient pottery is one of archaeology's best tools to determine time and culture. Once it is shaped and fired, it is almost indestructible and tells scientists much about the people that created it. Conveyed in Clay explores 5,000 years of human history. You'll see samples from the oldest pots discovered in North America to the pottery brought there by Spanish conquistadors.

Did you know the earliest pottery found in the United States was from Georgia around the Savannah River? The Convened in Clay exhibit focuses on pottery found around St. Catherine's Iland off the coast of central Georgia where humans have lived for around 5,000 years.

These people were hunters and gathers and lived well, because of the abundance of fish, wildlife and edible plants found here. They created what are known as pinch post by combining fiber and plant material to the local clay, hand shaping them and firing the pots. These pots, though small, allowed them to move from the previous way of cooking by tossing hot rocks into a skin or basket to heat food to being able to place the pots over a fire.

As the natives evolved into farmers, their pottery improved. When the early Spanish arrived and began forcing the natives into Catholicism, though they still used their pottery traditions, they began copying Spanish and other European pottery. One interesting fact is the use of red color in the later pottery, but scientist are stumped as to its meaning.

Fantastic Forces

We moved to modern in Fantastic Forces, Fernbank's new STEM Exhibit. This one is totally interactive. We experimented with lifting our own weight via seats with pull ropes. It makes you feel strong, but I have to admit, I couldn't raise myself too high. Another exhibit lets you use a pulley connected at two different centers of gravity. Amazing the difference it makes when you try to move the same object here.

One of my favorites was where you use your hand's own electronic reaction to pull what looks like small lightning bolts where you choose.

There are various ways to explore combustion, aerodynamics, plate tectonics and more. All of nature's forces become more understandable here.

Fernbank Forest

We stepped outside to get a glimpse of the 75 acres of outdoor nature adventures in WildWoods and Fernbank Forest and, no surprise, we met another dinosaur; Stegosaurus was crafted by Jonas Studios and perches on the deck overlooking WildWoods.

This only touches the surface, There are other exhibits and features include an IMAX theater, a cafe and museum store.

Pro tip: Buying a CityPASS is the best way to see Atlanta attractions. Besides Fernbank, CityPASS gives you access to World of Coca-Cola, Zoo Atlanta, Georgia Aquarium, and College Football Hall of Fame. It also includes the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, but that is temporarily closed until the fall of 2025. The pass saves you about 49% on admission costs.

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