FIELD DISCOVERY AND
COLLECTION GUIDE
By Kyle Atkins-Weltman and David Burnham
The types of data we are interested in collecting:
1.
Fossils (bone, teeth, plant, etc.)
2.
Rocks (sandstone, mudstone, concretion, etc.)
3.
Photos or sketches of the fossils and rocks
4.
Personal observations
1)
Basics to be recorded if you find something:
a.
Date, page number, name(s) of helper(s), weather
or general comments. These things help you remember important contextual
information.
b.
Diary of work accomplished that led you to the
discovery.
2) Record
the geographic location:
a. We
need to have the geographic coordinates of the discovery (Latitude and
Longitude). These will allow us to relocate the site and plot it on a map with
other similar finds. If we do not know where a fossil came from we can’t place
it in any meaningful context.
b. Record
the elevation to help tell us where it’s located in geologic time. Rock units,
such as the Hell Creek Formation, may be deposited over a time of 2 million
years so without elevation, we cannot place the fossil precisely within that span.
A lot can happen over 2 million years and where a fossil falls within that time
is very important for understanding its evolutionary context.
c. Sketch
the field positions of any fossils (bones or fragments) that you have found.
These positions help us evaluate the discovery and determine whether or not
there is likely to be any other material from the same individual(s), or if
there is another reason to follow up on the discovery.
3) Description
of the object collected (fossil, rock or unknown)
a.
Color—this is
a clue to confirm it’s a valuable object and how it’s preserved. Pictures are
extremely useful for this purpose, though you must make sure to get decent
lighting to capture adequate detail.
b.
Orientation
(in place or loose on the surface) can help determine if there is likely more
there to be found and in what direction to explore further.
c.
Preservation
(solid or crumbly) speaks to the quality of preservation and is important in
evaluating its significance.
d.
Quantity of
material (a few pieces or many fragments)— If there are many bones or
fragments, this may indicate a skeleton has been found.
e.
Layer in
which it was found— If it is found in a rock layer that is good! If not, it is
likely that it has floated away from its source.
4)
Describe surrounding
rocks—from this we can tell what the land looked like when the animal was
fossilized:
a.
Color—sand
is usually tan and represents river or beach; clay is grey and represents a
swampy area or a pond.
b.
collect a
small sample of the rock and label it—this would be a reference for us to look
at without going back into the field.
5)
Photo Log:
a.
Write down what
you think the object is, where it occurs, direction of view (North, South,
Southwest, etc.), names of people, date and time.
6)
Suggested
gear
a.
10X magnifying
lens—examine the object for details that may indicate bone vs rock, a small brush
to clean away the dirt from the object (its usually better to leave it alone), knife
or something to poke around with to tell if its in the rock or laying on the surface,
a GPS or a smart phone app, hat, daypack, water, foil to wrap the fossil, zip
locs for storage, and a notebook and pencil to record data.
7)
REMEMBER—anything collected belongs to the landowner or the government—there is
no such thing as “Finder’s Keepers”. Permission or a permit is always required.
