La Brea Tar Pits and Museum
Excavation pits, bubbling seeps, a working fossil lab, and mounted megafauna connect fieldwork to museum reconstruction.
Artwork inspired by Wayne Thiebaud
Excavation pits, bubbling seeps, a working fossil lab, and mounted megafauna connect fieldwork to museum reconstruction. The site is most valuable when asphalt, bone accumulation, and scientific uncertainty stay visible together. The essential frame combines excavation began—1913—with age—Late Pleistocene—and setting—Hancock Park.
Walk Pit 91 and Project 23 before the mounted skeletons, then watch technicians separate microfossils that large-animal displays can obscure. The outdoor grounds are free, museum entry is paid, and sticky seeps extend beyond fenced headline pits—stay on paths. Move deliberately from Project 23 to fossil lab, then use asphalt seeps as a check on the first impression rather than as another box to tick.
- Excavation began
- 1913
- Age
- Late Pleistocene
- Setting
- Hancock Park
Quick guide
- Read first
- Walk Pit 91 and Project 23 before the mounted skeletons, then watch technicians separate microfossils that large-animal displays can obscure.
- Connect it to
- Compare Project 23 with fossil lab, then use asphalt seeps to test what the site is trying to communicate.
Know before you go
- Read first
- Walk Pit 91 and Project 23 before the mounted skeletons, then watch technicians separate microfossils that large-animal displays can obscure.
- Connect it to
- Compare Project 23 with fossil lab, then test that reading against asphalt seeps.
- Place in context
- Excavation began: 1913; Age: Late Pleistocene; Setting: Hancock Park
- Plan the arrival
- For La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, use the reviewed visitor entrance at 5801 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036. Before visiting La Brea Tar Pits and Museum.
Good to know
The outdoor grounds are free, museum entry is paid, and sticky seeps extend beyond fenced headline pits—stay on paths.
Notice these
- Project 23
- fossil lab
- asphalt seeps