Wayne County's ancient past explored in Shreve

The County Line Historical Society of Wayne/Holmes will meet and present a program at 1 p.m. March 21 at the historic Shreve Presbyterian Church, 343 N. Market St., Shreve.

The featured presenter will be Dr. Nigel Brush, who will speak on "A Time-Traveler's Tale: Wayne County's Archaeological & Geologic Past."

Beginning when the first European colonists arrived in Wayne County in the 1700s, the journey will move back in time through the Late Prehistoric, Woodland, Archaic and Paleo-Indian periods to the Ice Age. After this, the presentation will move back into geologic time that is measured in millions of years. As the narrative goes deeper into the past, it will say Wayne County was previously an Arctic tundra, then a tropical forest, then a coastal community, then buried beneath the sea and finally lifted above the sea in a tall mountain range. Attendees will look back further through rocks being carried into Wayne County by streams, glaciers or falling from the sky.

Brush (Ph.D., anthropology, UCLA) is a professor of geology at Ashland University. As a geologist he has co-directed field trips to Michigan, New York, New England, Ontario and the Serpent Mound Impact Crater in Ohio. As an archaeologist he has worked on excavations in California, Ohio and England (Stonehenge) and directed excavations in Ohio at two mastodon sites, three Canal Period sites, five late prehistoric villages and 30 rock shelters. As an undergraduate he held student ministries in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

As a writer Brush is working on the first of a series of mystery novels set in Northeast Ohio that will utilize information from geology, archaeology, biology and astronomy to help solve the crimes.

Brush and his research team received an Ohio Historic Preservation Office Award for their work with the Ashland/Wooster/Columbus Archaeological and Geologic Consortium on the Walhonding Valley Late Prehistoric Sites Project. In addition to serving as co-director of the Ashland/Wooster/Columbus Archaeological & Geological Consortium, Brush is the former curator and co-founder of the Killbuck Valley Museum of Natural History.

The County Line Historical Society of Wayne/Holmes' mission is to support and provide educational programs of historical significance, serving Shreve, Nashville, Big Prairie and Lakeville communities. Operating without any tax funding, the museum relies on donations, memberships and community support.

The event is free. Parking is across North Market Street from the church.