The smallest fossil looks like a nautiloid. The other is a shark's tooth.
The rock above was imprinted with what looks like a fish. It was too big to move, so we photographed it. I would have loved to have brought it home.
Friday, July 25, 2008
For Teresa -- Fossils!
There are some of our fossil finds from our trip to Wick. Most of these were found around Helmsdale, except for the worked bit of stone. I think it's some sort of Neolithic tool, but I can't be certain.
The smallest fossil looks like a nautiloid. The other is a shark's tooth.
The rock above was imprinted with what looks like a fish. It was too big to move, so we photographed it. I would have loved to have brought it home.
The smallest fossil looks like a nautiloid. The other is a shark's tooth.
The rock above was imprinted with what looks like a fish. It was too big to move, so we photographed it. I would have loved to have brought it home.
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6 comments:
That's so exciting! This side of the Atlantic, it's very easy to find belemnites and several large bivalves and gastropods (at least if you know where to look!).
I can definitely see the possible nautiloid, but the shark tooth throws me off so I can't even begin to pinpoint the period it might be from. Does Helmsdale have any known marker fossils? Still very cool :)
Hi Daniela,
Yes! They have quite a few. There is an information page about fossils in Helmsdale here: http://www.helmsdale.ukfossils.co.uk/
Looks like more things you'd find there will be Jurassic.
Hey - a post dedicated to me! Thanks!! *grin*
I'll have to show these to my kids. We went to the Indiana State Museum a few days ago; they have a lovely exhibit on the fossils found in this area of the U.S. so fossils are fresh in their minds right now.
The nautiloid is kind of hard to make out (even on the labeled exhibits at the museum it was sometimes hard for me to see what is supposed to be there), but the shark tooth is beautiful! Tools are another category that I would have trouble identifying if I stumbled on one. I keep hoping to find Native American arrowheads here, but know that I wouldn't recognize one if it bit me. LOL!
The second pic definitely looks like a fish, a pretty great imprint at that! There was a head fossil of a dunkleosteus at the museum; it was huge but the body wasn't preserved because of cartilage, which is why imprints are so much better in that you can see the whole thing.
Nautiloids are much easier to see when they're polished. I have a nautiloid 'sculpture' that my husband gave me for Christmas a few years ago and they're very clearly defined.
I'm not too sure about the tool, but the area is famous for Neolithic sites. While we were at the beach, there was an archaeologist there studying a Viking/Pict battle. Maybe I picked up something that was once used to knock someone else in the head! ;)
oooh, what if there were traces of blood still on the weapon? And now you can protect yourself with an ancient weapon!
Hee! I'd love to get back up there when they're excavating for battle remnants.
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