There is a place in Norman, Oklahoma, where many of the exhibits are prehistoric. It is called the Sam Noble Museum, and it sits on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, very near to the National Weather Center. When I taught in Oklahoma City, we took our second graders to this museum; at that time, the museum was in a previous incarnation. It was bursting at the seems, longing for the space required to exhibit more of its specimens. It was a humble structure, with wood floors and a largely unexhibited collection of prehistoric artifacts.
I have often complained about modern museums and their inclination to exhibit replicas and lookalikes, and the Sam Noble does have many of these (fake dinosaur skeletons and generic handmade goods from natives, for example), but they also display one large collection of the real things.
I have often complained about modern museums and their inclination to exhibit replicas and lookalikes, and the Sam Noble does have many of these (fake dinosaur skeletons and generic handmade goods from natives, for example), but they also display one large collection of the real things.
My family does not subscribe to macroevolution, so sorting through placards that explained items in these terms was a chore, a few weeks ago. Regardless, there is much to see here for any family, and the multimillion dollar facility and the clean, high-quality displays are quite impressive.
