An Andy Warhol Moment

At Dino Dreaming, we are as thrifty as we can be with our sponsor's dollars.
I think that Darren has captured the essence of this.

Cheap imported soup we bought in bulk last year (or perhaps the one before that).


I'm not sure what the tiny dinosaurs represent...

Preliminary results

A well preserved ornithopod tibia

Paired turtle pubes (hip bones) and a turtle coracoid
found only centimetres away from the hip bones.

Fused turtle sacral vertebrae. This bone was described by Wendy as
"a square bone with four feet" so I just had to prepare it.

It has now been nearly three weeks since the Dinosaur Dreaming 2008 dig came to an end. For some it is back to the real world and a normal job. However, for a privileged few the real fun begins. Preparation of the specimens that were found during the dig has begun and the preliminary results are looking good:

Over 700 fossil bones and teeth were catalogued during the dig, not including the "shoulder bones", which are bone fragments too incomplete to catalogue. Some of the stand-out specimens to have been identified include the three mammal jaws, which are in David Pickering's capable hands, waiting to be prepared. Gerry Kool's lovely ornithopod maxilla could turn out to be very interesting if it can be determined that it is Qantassaurus intrepidus. David is also working on this specimen.
At least 28 individual ornithopod teeth were identified and more will no doubt turn up during examination of the material. Only 6 theropod teeth were found, which is a little down on the average number. More than 120 isolated theropod teeth have been recovered from the Flat Rocks site over the last 15 years.
Some nice dinosaur limbs were also found this field season, including an ornithopod femur, at least two tibiae and a fibula. One of the tibiae is shown above.
Some very well preserved turtle elements were also found this year, including a turtle braincase, lower jaw, numerous isolated vertebrae, paired pubes and associated coracoid (shown above). These bones are from a number of individuals and will add more information to our database.
Preparation of more of the fossil bones is ongoing, so stay tuned...

Last day.

Well, we've all packed up Inverloch and gone home.
But not before a BBQ at Gerry and Lesley's.

Alan and Gerry cook mounds
of sausages whilst enjoying
a red. We love their aprons.

Danielle, Felicity, Nicole, Penny, Anne, Lesley
and Keiichi wait for dinner to be ready.

 

Mike plays guitar - he starts with the
rock-breaking song from Les Mis but moves
quickly (due to popular demand) to Fergie Tractor
and Washing the Miner's Clothes.

But not everyone seems to be paying attention...

Week 6 crew

Last but not least dig crew for the 2008 Dinosaur Dreaming season.
Thank you one and all.

Last day at the site

Today was the last day at site for this field season.
And what a beautiful day it was.

John and Udo strike remarkedly similar poses.

John tries out the new Venturi that David built us. It still needs some refinement. Gerry leaps into the water in his socks to help.

Keiichi removes the last rock from the hole. The hole crew is protected from passers-by.

Tim was trying to break rock, but was distracted by one of Bill's funny stories.

New finds in Week 6

An ornithopod femur in cross-section

Ventral surface of turtle carapace

Dave's new toy

Dave was delighted with his new toy jackhammer

Dave and Wendy received tokens of appreciation

Dave received a new (toy) jackhammer as he wore out the real one

Wendy received a lovely Peter Trusler print in appreciation for all her
hard work during the dig.

Dinosaur Dreaming Dig party

The three amigos - Vicki, Kim and John


Waiting for the fun to start with the pinatas

John's method of peeling onions

old friends

Bill Hopkins and Helen Wilson last saw each other in 1991
at Dinosaur Cove

Dig Party

Saturday was our annual dig party. We strung pinatas from the clothesline.

Caroline, Sarah, Jacqui and
Andrew check them out.

Blindfolded diggers hit them
with a stick - Mike's turn.



Andrew plays with the Glow sticks
that fell from the piñatas.

Four bones



The crew found 4 bones in close proximity The dark brown bone on the right is a bit of a mystery.

Week five of the dig

Week five crew

Week five was quite sunny
but the wind was really cold

A beautiful sunny day

John hard at work with the jackhammer.

He'd already won "bone of the day" with a tooth he'd found whilst waiting to leave the house.