Sunday, July 22, 2018

Egyptian-Greek Lion Statue Containing Fossils at The Met



Recently, I visited New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art located at 1000 Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street. It is an amazing museum. According to Wikipedia it is the 3rd most visited art museum and 5th most visited museum of any kind in the world (as of 2016).  They have extensive artworks from cultures all around the world including ancient Egypt and Greece.

While art and paleontology do not often mix I was able to find a few fossils in an item at the ancient Egypt exhibit.





The fossils were found while visiting the 15 BC Egyptian-Roman Temple of Dendur room, to the right of the temple when facing it are a number of artifacts (see above image of room). One is a reclining lion statue with a number of visible foraminiferan Nummulites fossils on it. The statue is from the Roman period (second to third century A.D.) from Bubastis Egypt. It is made from what appears to be an Eocene limestone from Egypt. A Greek inscription is in the front of the statue that translates to "Thnepheros daughter of Pitikas dedicated for good". Greek custom at the time was to use lion sculptures as funeral monuments. The museum bought the statue from the Egyptian government in 1912.


As for nummulite shell fossils, ancient Egyptians used them as coins and their name is derived from the Latin nummulus meaning "little coin".  This type of limestone was used to construct the pyramids so they contain these fossils as well. Learn more at Wikipedia.


Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Cambrian Trilobites Found in Conasauga Formation



Trilobite fossils found in the Conasauga Formation of Murray County Georgia USA. These Middle Cambrian Period trilobites are known as Aphelaspis brachyphasis. Thanks to Kenny for these images.






Sunday, July 15, 2018

Decaschisma pentalobus Blastoid Fossil


This fossil is quite a rare find. It was found during the Family Paleontology Camp on July 11, 2018 at the Falls of the Ohio State Park. Diane Esery, a volunteer discovered it at the collecting pile at the edge of the parking lot. She donated it to the state park collection. That material is Waldron Shale brought in from a quarry in Clark County Indiana USA. It measures about 1 cm in length.

The blastoid fossil appears to be a Decaschisma pentalobus (Hall). It dates to the Silurian Period. Thanks to Alan for the images.