Hi Kris, I just stumbled across your blog and have some questions. I currently live in Florida and am a newbie Peace River hunter (zookeeperfossils.blogspot.com) but I spent the bulk of my life in Kansas City, MO and made the cross-KS drive a few times. In the late 80's I visited the Chalk Pyramids, not knowing a thing about the fossils there and I went to the Sternberg Museum in 2004. Do all the fossils you find in Gove county chalk require so much prep? Are you self-taught? Why are the fossils placed in a plaster slab after all the restoration work? Are they extremely fragile? Doesn't that prevent you from seeing 50% of the fossil? Looking over your blog is making me feel my midwestern roots. :-)
Hello, Aimee and thanks for the comment! First off, not all fossils are prepared this way. It's really the decision of the person doing the prep work. Often a fossil like this is excavated in a block of rock or in a plaster jacket. However, roots from a nearby plant had fractured the rock and destroyed many of the teeth. So I collected what I could in the field. At home the "crumbly" specimen was cleaned and I added the teeth back in. I also set the jaws in a slab of plaster to add stability (plus I think it looks better). I got some great help starting out in this field but am largely self-taught when it comes to prep. Are you on the Fossil Forum? It's a great resource and fun place connect with other fossil collectors.
Hi Kris, I just stumbled across your blog and have some questions. I currently live in Florida and am a newbie Peace River hunter (zookeeperfossils.blogspot.com) but I spent the bulk of my life in Kansas City, MO and made the cross-KS drive a few times. In the late 80's I visited the Chalk Pyramids, not knowing a thing about the fossils there and I went to the Sternberg Museum in 2004.
ReplyDeleteDo all the fossils you find in Gove county chalk require so much prep? Are you self-taught? Why are the fossils placed in a plaster slab after all the restoration work? Are they extremely fragile? Doesn't that prevent you from seeing 50% of the fossil? Looking over your blog is making me feel my midwestern roots. :-)
Hello, Aimee and thanks for the comment! First off, not all fossils are prepared this way. It's really the decision of the person doing the prep work.
ReplyDeleteOften a fossil like this is excavated in a block of rock or in a plaster jacket. However, roots from a nearby plant had fractured the rock and destroyed many of the teeth. So I collected what I could in the field.
At home the "crumbly" specimen was cleaned and I added the teeth back in. I also set the jaws in a slab of plaster to add stability (plus I think it looks better).
I got some great help starting out in this field but am largely self-taught when it comes to prep.
Are you on the Fossil Forum? It's a great resource and fun place connect with other fossil collectors.