Fossil Dig 2010
Update 1 July 2010
This morning was slightly cooler after the thunderstorm, though the humidity was significant. After breakfast we headed to the cafe for the morning briefing but stopped to talk to the students who were at the motel garage loading supplies. They let us know that the team was meeting at the cafe at 8:30 and we would know at that time if work at the site would resume. The rain might have delayed our schedule, and Ron was going to let Steve know the status.
We arrived at the cafe and everyone was loading into the vehicles to drive to the Tinker site. We actually got a head start and arrived at the site before the rest. It was interesting to see the area without a crowd of people, and the amount of work that has occurred over the last three days.
Today was much the same as yesterday... pick, dig, drink, rest, lunch, pick, dig, drink, rest, screen. The temperature rose pretty quickly and I must say that without our cooling vests, Laurel and I would be sitting under the canopy all day. They are a life saver. After lunch we soak them again in the water at the bottom of the cooler, and that revives us for the afternoon shift and the later collection time. Most of the team wears t shirts, tank tops, and shorts. They are sunburned and fatigued, and I am convinced that effects their ability to work into the afternoon. Laurel and I want to "mother" all of them, but it really is not our job, and we resist the temptation as best we can.
There was one accident. A male student cut his thumb in such a place that the bleeding could not be stopped so Mitch drove him to the medical clinic in town for stitches and a tetanus shot.
More visitors to the site today: Mark and Jody, friends of Ron; the ranch foremnan and his wife, Karen; and two new "prospectors'. They all pitched in and helped with the overburden removal. Our little group got into a nice groove of two guys picking (swinging pick axe), then two of us (Laurel and I) shoveling the dirt into buckets, and one of the guys emptying the buckets. Repeat from the beginning over and over. I could work for about 15-20 minutes and then had to drink water. The high humidity made us feel the heat more. We worked this way until lunch at 12:00.
Lunch under the canopy (Bud Light Banner), was a relief after a few hours in that heat. Steve decided to abandon our quadrant for now and focused the effort in the opposite direction and across to the base of the opposite wall. I must admit to being somewhat frustrated with his decision because it would mean that our work to date, was at some level, for nothing. However, I am not the captain of this ship (pirate or otherwise) and I keep my mouth shut, mostly.
Since the digging space shrunk after lunch, Laurel and I decided to rest a bit and watch the early afternoon unfold. As people on the team tired, and retired to the shade, we decided to take their place and dig a bit more. The temperature in the mid afternoon rises until late evening so the work after lunch is effected accordingly. I walked over to the screen table to see what Ron and Steve were discovering and I was invited to join them. Buckets from different levels in the site were being screened for small fossils, bone and botanical. I had beginner's luck and within about a minute I found a very small bone fragment. Only a few had been found all day... hardly what everyone was expecting. Visions of leg bones had been motivating us for hours.
Steve called quitting time around 3:30 and most of the team returned to town. Some went collecting for the hour allotted. Ron generously offered to guide us to a couple of buttes that he said had been productive in the past. We followed his truck in our car and parked near the ranch road. He drove us to one butte and got out to show us the site more closely. As I was clasping the waist strap on my back pack Laurel spotted spill and just as quickly found bone peeking out of the wall. Damn, that girl is good! Ron was as excited as the two of us and helped her remove the bone from the matrix (rib fragment of a hadrosaur).
She continued walking around the butte to the right and I went left. Perched on a mud spill about 4 feet high was a strange triangular shaped object. At first I thought it was fossil bone and when I picked it up it looked like sandstone on the bottom. A bit confounded I just replaced it. I found a small spill and followed it up a ways but nothing revealed itself except a small vertebra fragment. It is similar to one I have at home, but I cannot remember what it is. That is why we ask the experts, which I will do tomorrow.
I retraced my steps to see the progress on the fossil removal. Since Laurel's supplies were there but neither she nor Ron, I kept walking in that direction. I soon found Ron up ahead and I looked at a small run off area where I found some strange bone pieces. I called to Ron who confirmed my thinking that the unusual fossil material was Tyrannosaurs rex bone. Very small pieces but interesting, and I will be happy to donate them to a school.
Ron and I returned to the rib site and then continued around to find Laurel. When we met her she asked me if I had seen the strange "thing" on the mud. I confirmed that I had but was uncertain about it being bone material. I located it again and showed Ron, who determined it was bone. Laurel generously allowed me to keep it.
(She is a darling)
As we headed back to the rib, Ron asked us if we wanted to continue and he would drive us to another butte. Tired though we were, our enthusiasm for collecting rose to the occasion and we happily agreed to go.
We drove to the new butte and the three of us split up: Ron walked to the right, I headed up and to the left and Laurel stayed low and left. I found nothing as I walked around the perimeter of the not very tall butte. It wasn't too scary or slippery, and since it was getting late and we were more tired than we wanted to admit, being safe was essential. I continued around to the right and just a few feet before the end of the butte I spotted IT. Now at last I found something larger than the palm of my hand.
It is extremely weathered and fragile. I put my knife next to it and took a photo. After a few minutes I looked up to see Ron coming from the same direction I had walked. I called to him saying that I found something but it is terribly weathered. He walked over and exclaimed that yes indeed I had found something. He admitted that he had spotted it earlier but was hoping one of us would see it. How kind of him. Not everyone is so generous with fossil finds, trust me.
He thought we should try to remove some of the matrix, in this case the betonite it is resting in. We worked carefully for about 20 minutes. Laurel found us and is so excited that I finally have a big treasure. It is even more fun to share the thrill with a friend. Laurel walked over to the larger butte adjacent to the one we were on and Ron and I continued to pick the mud away from the fossil.
We are cautiously optimistic that what I have found is a horn from a Triceratops. There maybe some skull attached but we did not want to attempt to excavate it so late in the day. I am hoping that Steve will be able to look at it in the morning, identify it and give me some tips for safe removal. I really wish he had the time to help me with the task, but I know his priority lies with Tinker.
Needless to say, though I am tired and sore, I am ecstatic. I can hardly wait for tomorrow and discovering more about this find. I am trying to moderate my emotions, but I really want to scream and jump for joy. All in good time...I hope.
Laurel returned and shared her finds. She has a very unusually shaped bone fragment and additonal pieces. Perhaps it is from a pelvis. Steve will no doubt know what bone it is and the species of animal. She thinks there is more of it higher and wants to return tomorrow. Ron is thrilled for both of us and though he is disappointed about the results at the Tinker site, he is always the optimist and believes tomorrow will be the day that more Tinker bones will be uncovered. I hope his years of sacrifice and determination are rewarded with a nice femur.
More fun tonight when I recounted the tales of the day to Walt. He shares my excitement, since this year I will be shipping home a box with a fossil treasure instead of carrying it in a gem box in my back pack. There is still plenty of time to find a nice tooth or claw! And I do appreciate all my fossils.
Thank you fossil gods and fairies. It was an extraordinary day.
Cheers,
Christine, Momasaurus
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