Dinosaur-themed movies and toys, along with real-life fossil discoveries, have inspired a lasting fascination with these ancient creatures that once dominated our planet. For anyone with an interest in exploring the fossils of dinosaurs and other ancient animals, there is a shop called The Smoky Mountain Relic Room in Sevierville, Tennessee, that has fossils from every epoch in history on display and for sale. The wide variety of items The Relic Room has in stock is enough to pique the interest of budding scientists and dinosaur bone collectors anywhere.
While dinosaur fossils may be the most popular, they are not the only type of ancient animal of interest to scientists and prehistoric history buffs. In fact, paleontologists have identified approximately 700 non-avian species, according to the American Museum of Natural History, with more likely to be discovered in the future.
After the dinosaurs became extinct, there was a battle for dominance among the species that remained. Each species’ survival depended on their access to life-sustaining resources. There were fluctuations in dominant species over time, as some were better suited for survival due to evolutionary advances. The history of what happened to these prehistoric species is recorded in their fossilized remains for people to learn about today.
A historian and collector affiliated with The Smoky Mountain Relic Room, Chase Pipes filmed a documentary episode on the subject of ancient mammal fossils that was published to The Relic Room’s YouTube Channel, Chasing History.
“This is why we come out into the middle of nowhere, is to show you guys the truth, the reality. It’s one thing to read a link on Facebook or to read something online. It’s another thing to actually come out into the field and see it,” Mr. Pipes said in a YouTube episode titled “Fossils Are NOT Rare.”
Recording Mr. Pipes’ forays into the field to discover and explain fossils, artifacts, and other pieces of ancient history, the Chasing History channel aims to inspire viewers to take a hands-on approach to learning about dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures.
For people who would like to see these fossils close-up without trekking through the wilderness and digging them up, The Smoky Mountain Relic Room offers the largest collection of natural history for sale in North America. Boasting a supply of prehistoric, ethnographic, antique, and collectible items from all periods of human existence, The Relic Room’s fossil inventory includes trilobites, an ocean creature that lived more than 400 million years ago; amber with fossilized insects from around 50 million years ago; and a mammoth tooth from around 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. The business has grown such a large and diverse supply of fossils by developing relationships with dealers, collectors, and curators for more than 40 years.
If the public cannot be inspired to preserve fossils, the remains of these incredible creatures are in danger of being lost to time and the elements. The Relic Room aims to preserve history and motivate more people to take an active role in doing so.
“At the Relic Room, our mission is to inspire people to become stewards of history and collect the incredible fossils that we still have access to today. We all have a role to play in protecting prehistoric artifacts,” said Mr. Pipes.
For more information on how you can start collecting, visit TheRelicRoom.org or tune into the Relic Room’s YouTube documentary series, Chasing History.
Chase Pipes 