For the past few months we have been planning an excavation of a partially articulated Allosaur found late November of 2009. The site is located ten miles east from Castle Dale, Utah. Castle Dale is the county seat of Emery County and if you are ever in the area swing by the Museum of the San Rafael. It is a stop worth making.
Last November we were checking out a bone deposit in a Jurassic age channel sandstone. Channel sandstones were laid down by streams and rivers and can contain the remains of plants and/or animals that were deposited in the stream when it was active. This site contains the partial remains of a sauropod. The fossil bones are badly weathered so that is as good as my field I.D. gets on this one.
Photo Credit John Bird
The sun was still high and the weather nice for the end of November so we split up and started surveying the area to see what we could find. Bill spotted three small bones sticking up out of the ground and called me over. Using my pocketknife I started investigating and within about 20 minutes had 6 articulated vertebra exposed. Yes, I was a little excited. Articulated dinosaurs are very rare around here, so even just six vertebrae, all lined up together was pretty cool. By then the temperature was beginning to drop so we covered the vertebra up and decided to come back a couple days later.
Photo Credit John Bird
Photo Credit John Bird
The next trip out was in December. We quickly uncovered the original six vertebrae. Bill began working to the right and I worked to the left. We were both amazed at what we found. The verts kept going and going and going, until we had 27 articulated verts. The verts were bent back on themselves just like a goose does when it sleeps, so it was named the Goose Neck Site. This was all really cool, but our surface permit would no longer cover what needed to be done to jacket and remove the vertebrae.
Photo Credit John Bird
That’s when I called the BLM and explained the situation. We had a partially articulated dinosaur near a main road. They responded quickly and we continued trying to work around the verts to jacket them. Additional bones complicated the situation and then the snow arrived. I made the decision to stop work and wait for better conditions.
In January the idea to open the site up to public view was suggested and after some thought it was decided to invite the public, after all, the site was too close to the road to keep it a secret. Plans were made, equipment was prepared, and clearances and permits were obtained. This was a cooperative effort involving people from the CEU Prehistoric Museum, the BLM, CC Travel and Volunteers from Carbon and Emery Counties.
Monday May 3rd we established pathways and a few barriers to protect the bones. Ramal Jones from Castle Dale used his scintillation counter to help us determine the extent of the deposit. We then started expanding the quarry and uncovering the articulated vertebrae.
Tuesday May 4th was media day and what a day. News crews from radio stations, television stations and newspapers were interviewing everyone present. Representatives from the BLM were present including their state paleontologist Dr. Scott Foss. The day was a great success thanks to a multitude of participants.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were spent uncovering more of the fossil bones and talking with the many visitors. The visitors were fantastic. They were excited, interested, friendly and when buckets needed emptying some pitched in and emptied buckets. Some allosaur teeth were found and everyone enjoyed examining them. We established various viewing areas around the site and all were well used.
Photo Credit John Bird
Saturday May 8th was “Family Day in the Swell”. The archeologists set up information stations, for anyone interested in learning about the early inhabitants, at a couple of the rock art sites down Buckhorn Wash and we were still working on the Goose Neck dinosaurs. In addition many of the desert wildflowers were in bloom and the weather was just right. It was a great day to be out in the swell.
Photo Credit John Bird
Up to this point we had left “most” of the fossil bones in place so everyone who visited would be able to see the bones where we had found them. Saturday afternoon we began collecting and preparing the fossils for transport to Price. Jacketing of some of the fossils was done to protect them during travel. All of the fossils were mapped, numbered and recorded in the field journal. This work continued through Sunday.
Monday May 10th only the large jacket containing the 27 articulated vertebrae was left. Several volunteers heeded our call for help and using our large stretch we were able to load the jacket onto a small trailer for the trip down the hill where we loaded it onto our larger trailer for the trip to the museum in Price. Derald Oliver from Castle Dale spent a few days at the site and when he heard us talking about how we could get the jacket down the hill he volunteered his small trailer and ATV. Special thanks to him, he made a hard job much easier.
The large jacket is now in the museum and we will be working on the bones near the allosaur mount in the Hall of Paleontology. Visitors to the museum are welcome to talk with the preparators and check up on their progress as it is being prepared for study. I am hoping to find a long term spot to display these unique fossils.
A VERY SINCERE “THANKS” TO THE MANY PEOPLE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE SUCCESS OF THIS EVENT.
Note: For those interested we are close to having a new museum director/curator of paleontology. I am hopeful we will be announcing that persons name before the end of May.
1 comment:
Great find, great photos and a great post,John. Peggy has had major spinal surgery and we are hoping to be back working with the group by next season.
Peggy and Bob Peyton
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