Digging in the Dirt, Part 1

The cold wind howled furiously around me as I knelt on the barren ground to pick up a sparkling rock that had caught my eye.  I turned the rock over in my hand, enamored with its beauty and structure.  I then proceeded to take pictures of it and sit on the ground to see what other interesting rocks might be there.   About that time, one of my fellow diggers excitedly came over to ask if I had found a fossil.  “No,” I replied enthusiastically, “it’s a rock!”  My companion shrugged and wandered away, apparently not sharing my excitement about the rock.  Oh well – I can’t expect everyone understand the joys of rocks in the same way I do.

Last week, I had the privilege of getting to go on my first real dig in Kansas.  Although I have worked with a fossil museum for nearly two years, the opportunity to go on a dig didn’t really work out until recently, as college classes usually took priority over my time.  I really wasn’t sure what to expect, and was a little bit nervous that I wouldn’t know what to do or would be one of those people who is constantly finding black rocks and asking if it’s a fossil.  Thankfully, I ended up knowing more than I thought I did about working at a dig site and adjusted to the new scene fairly well.  It was not exactly easy work, with running all around and adjusting to a new climate, but I absolutely loved it and can hardly wait to go on another dig.

When we find a fossil, we don’t typically just pick up the fossil or dig them all out at the dig site itself.  The most scientific way to excavate bones is to create and record a grid around the discovered fossil, properly showing the compass directions, so that we can learn more about how the creature died and was buried during the global flood we read about in Genesis.  We also create field jackets out of plaster and burlap to wrap around the fossil and the dirt surrounding it (called the matrix).  These field jackets help protect the bones, preserving them just the way they were found until we can get them back to the lab to be fully excavated, molded, and/or chemically tested.  Several months before going on the dig, I was able to work on field jackets that the team had excavated from the Kansas dig site on a previous trip.  Being familiar with the field jackets made it a lot easier to work on the dig site.

Next week, I will explain more about the dig and why the fossils are important.  Of course, I’m quite sure that my geologist side will come out a little and I will probably say at least a few things about the rocks.  Until then, go outside to your own backyard to appreciate the beauty of the rocks and sky where you are, giving praise to the marvelous Creator Who made them (and you too).