Missouri State University students are getting their hands dirty in the name of uncovering the historic and the prehistoric.
Under the guidance of Assistant Professor of Archaeology Jack Ray, the students have already spent days digging in Smallin Cave.
Ray’s team has uncovered artifacts thousands of years old and gave us a peek into the prehistoric ozarks. The Smallin Cave is beautiful to visit on a hot summer day but it has undoubtedly served as life saving shelter in the past.
“This is a Smith Point that dates about 4,000 years old,” says Ray, holding a large spear point in his hand. “This particular artifact is, perhaps, more interesting than the rest of them because it is made of a stone, a rock that is completely foreign to the Ozarks. This rock is called novaculite, comes out of the Ouachita Mountains of Southwest, Central Arkansas.”
You can see the work in action if you take a tour of Smallin Cave between now and June 26.
Read More: MSU Students Dig up Dirt on Ozarks Prehistoric Past