“Mammoth Bone Houses Built in Ukraine During the Last Ice Age” is the subject of a lecture with noted archaeologist Dr. Kurt Carr, senior curator of Archaeology at the State Museum of Pennsylvania.

Carr will speak at the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

“Exploring the daily lives of people in the Ice Age has long been a source of tremendous fascination,” said Joseph Garrera, executive director of the museum. “Through archaeology, we can catch a glimpse of these prehistoric Paleolithic hunters and gatherers and discover how they adapted to the incredibly harsh environment of the last Ice Age.”

During the last Ice Age, eastern Russia and Ukraine were a vast grassland similar to the Great Plains of North America. The region was inhabited by large herds of bison, horses, caribou and woolly mammoths along with arctic hare, wolves and foxes. Temperatures averaged well below zero during the winter.

As a result, there were very few trees, and wood for tool handles, for burning or house construction was at a premium. Humans inhabiting this region were well adapted to these extreme conditions and used bone as a substitute for wood.

Carr’s presentation will describe the archaeological excavations of a house made of mammoth bones dating to over 14,000 years ago at the Mezhirich site in the Republic of Ukraine.

Program admission is free to members, $8 for adult nonmembers, and $3 for nonmember children.

With almost 40 years as an archaeologist, Dr. Carr has a profound and extensive knowledge of the field. He has participated in numerous archaeological digs and has published extensively in both scholarly journals and books.

The Museum is located at 432 W. Walnut St. in Allentown. Parking is available in the rear of the Museum, on the street, and in nearby lots.

For more information, contact Garrera at 610-435-1074 or visit www.lehighvalleyheritagemuseum.org.