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FROZEN REIGN

A state of change
Level 1
EXPERIENCE ONGOING
Frozen Reign
Level 1
EXPERIENCE ONGOING

From the arctic kingdom, the Ice Age returns

Long before humans arrived, glaciers advanced and retreated across the landscape, creating jungle habitat for jaguars and rhinos. When the glaciers returned, mammoths and mastodons thrived in the harsh climate. Here, you’ll explore an ice tunnel, a jaguar’s den and a frozen lake to see all kinds of Ice Age animals that once called Indiana home. Find out how glaciers carved the earth, how mammoth and mastodon teeth are different, and how your weight stacks up to that of a giant sloth! Embark on an odyssey through an ice tunnel time machine and come face to tusk with glacial giants.

Woman and man viewing cheetah model in the Frozen Reign exhibit at the Indiana State Museum
Woman and girl exploring at frozen reign
Boy playing with model bear
Girl interacting with frozen reign exhibit at the Indiana State Museum
Attendees viewing frozen reign exhibit
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    THINGS GET GRAVE

    Learn the stories of an unlucky mastodon and dire wolf.

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    MEASURE UP TO GIANTS

    Compare yourself against Indiana’s ancient beasts.

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    CALL OF THE MASTODON

    Hear what an ancient mastodon might’ve sounded like.

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    MARCH WITH SKELETONS

    Experience a parade of Ice Age giants from Indiana’s past.

A LOOK AT A STATE OF CHANGE

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Boy running into the Frozen Reign exhibit inside the Indiana State Museum

OUR TEAM DIGS FOR ICE AGE ANIMALS IN SOUTHERN INDIANA CAVES

Digs for prehistoric animals aren’t just happening in the American Great Plains. For decades, our team has been digging for Ice Age skeletons right here in Indiana. In fact, Ice Age paleontology is one of the specialties of the Indiana State Museum, and the museum has more mastodons and mammoths from different locations than any other museum in the Midwest. That’s a good thing, because the more bones we have from a variety of locations and time periods, the better picture we can paint of what life for these animals may have been like, as well as the conditions in Indiana during that time. Look for rare fossils and bones throughout the gallery!

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Photo of team digging up artifacts
Team sifting through artifacts
Close-up photo of dug up artifacts at the Indiana State Museum
Close-up photo of artifact from Frozen Reign exhibit at the Indiana State Museum

See what’s hiding in our behind-the-scenes collection!

Along with more than 500,000 objects, we also collect and preserve stories, information and scientific data that provide perspective on the state’s present and future. Within the collection are six Centers of Excellence. These are distinguished by the extraordinary quality of the objects and the depth of staff expertise.