I'm finally back in the lab after an intense dig trip to Western New York. 36 hours of hard digging, back-breaking, arm-straining good times with friends. Western NY has vast deposits of middle-Devonian strata known on the whole as the Hamilton group. Contained within this group are various formations that present a veritable army of paleozoic fauna (and occasional flora!). A trilobite hunters dream. James Hanna, Richie Helms, Tony Petropoulos and myself slabbed out around 50 blocks of good trilobite layer. We removed massive amounts of overburden to get down to these layers. Not all of the blocks were winners but we worked hard as a team and everyone got some great material. Tony in particular found something very special which will be the focus of a post in the future once I prepare it. In short, him and I ended up on Channel 2 news in a quick interview segment about Hamburgs famous site, Penn Dixie. Some of the other finds included Eldredgeops (Phacops) trilobites in every conceivable orientation, gastropods, cephalopods, Bellacartwrightia, Greenops and of course- a zillion horn corals. Some photos of this dig to follow. I can't wait to go back!
Me shovelling overburden while Tony slacks off. It rained on and off all day.
Using my shirt to contain any loose trilo-bits during recovery with the big 14"saw. This will hopefully result in a beautiful bellacartwrightia trilobite once I prepare it. Careful "surgery" is needed on this piece as shell was split between positive and negative. Bayview formation.
One of my favourite finds from Wednesday morning. A double example of the classic Phacops trilobite! Until next time! -Mike Meacher 2023
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