The big dig

This week, we have a guest writer, Annie's Papa, here to talk about their fun-fossil-filled adventure this weekend:

Today Annie and I ventured across the Ohio river to its northern bank in Indiana for the Clarksville fossil festival. A steady rain kept the crowds at a minimum and the limestone fossil beds slick. It also kept us from photographing the visit, but the local newspaper took a picture of Annie digging for treasures, which may make it to press in the Lousiville Courier Journal. (At this time, currently no pictures of Annie. Their loss.)

For the festival, they scooped up some of the limestone river basin and dumped it into piles for the kids to explore. (Two piles were rich in fossils and one pile had mostly crystals.) You could keep anything that you found, and we did, since fossil collecting at the Falls of the Ohio Park was not allowed elsewhere. The fossilized animals are about 387 to 380 million years old and are from various sea-dwelling invertebrates (corals, sponges, mollusks, etc). You'll see here some photos of what we found.

There were booths with local Paleontological and Geological Society members and also fossil vendors. There was a visitor’s center, which looked nice, but our clothes quickly became sopping wet and muddy, so we stayed outdoors and plan to visit it on a different day. Instead, we hiked down to the river’s outer bed, despite the warning that the terrain is “not suitable for children under 8 or 9.” Annie climbed down and back with little assistance, tightly gripping a yellow crystal all the way. Then, I drove home in wet jeans and Annie in her underwear. (Editor's note: to me, that's a sign of a good time.)