Fossils Embedded in Column at Speed Art Museum

If you ever visit the Speed Art Museum in downtown Louisville next to the campus of the University of Louisville, check out the polished columns leading the Grand Staircase. The arrow in the image points to an area of the column with interesting fossils. It is next to the entrance to the Ancient art rooms.

The image above shows crinoid stem sections. The one shaped it a star pattern is particularly nice. The next image appears to be fenestrate bryozoan fossil. The polishing of the slab has made its details standout quite nicely.

On a future visit, I might ask the staff if they have any information about where rock columns were quarried at.

Also in the first picture you can see (in between column and statue) in the distance an Egyptian sarcophagus lid made of limestone. It has quite a few fossils embedded in it. Unfortunately, it is on loan from another museum and is not allowed to be photographed so I cannot make a specific post about it. :( So if you visit the museum check it out up close in its display case and see if you can find the fossils! 

Productus wortheni Brachiopod Fossil with Spines!

Wow, another special image similar to a posting 2 days ago. The Mississippian Period brachiopod fossil Productus wortheni found in the Knobstone Formation of Clark County, Indiana, USA shown in image. The special item about this image is the spines preserved in the sandstone matrix. They are so delicate yet survived the fossilization process and here they are hundreds of millions a years later.

Kenny, thanks for the image of this very sweet find.

Productus wortheni Brachiopod Fossil

The Mississippian Period brachiopod fossils Productus wortheni found in the Knobstone Formation of Clark County, Indiana, USA. What is nice is the cast and its negative still in the matrix. Note the small divots in the negative marking where spines were.

Thanks for the image Kenny.