5th September – Saturday
Another day of dinosaur hunting! Today we headed to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, which has only been open for two months. This is a not-for-profit organisation which digs up and prepares dinosaur bones. The digs take place on a property to the north of Winton and the bones are then removed to a laboratory on top of a jump up about 25 kms east of Winton.
We had a wonderful guided tour by a very nice young man who is currently working on bone preparation. We learnt about the finds of three dinosaurs – Matilda, Banjo and Wade – and saw the actual bones recovered from these dinosaurs. We were told how they were excavated, encased in a plaster jacket and removed to the laboratory to be prepared for study and display. We were shown the tools used in the painstaking process of removing the stone surrounding the bone, plus a piece of vertebrae that had been worked on for two years so far and still had a long way to go!
We were also amazed that the project is virtually entirely self funded, apart from a Government grant to build the workshop. The Queensland Museum palaeontologists assist with specimen identification, but there is no research being undertaken by any of the universities. Unbelievable!!!
As a means of fund raising, and supplementing the workforce, it is possible to pay a fee of $70 and actually spend a day in the lab helping with the painstaking work of removing stone from the bones. If one is keener on working on a dig, getting dirty and fighting flies all day, this can happen for a charge of anywhere between approximately $1700 and $3500.
Another day of dinosaur hunting! Today we headed to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, which has only been open for two months. This is a not-for-profit organisation which digs up and prepares dinosaur bones. The digs take place on a property to the north of Winton and the bones are then removed to a laboratory on top of a jump up about 25 kms east of Winton.
We had a wonderful guided tour by a very nice young man who is currently working on bone preparation. We learnt about the finds of three dinosaurs – Matilda, Banjo and Wade – and saw the actual bones recovered from these dinosaurs. We were told how they were excavated, encased in a plaster jacket and removed to the laboratory to be prepared for study and display. We were shown the tools used in the painstaking process of removing the stone surrounding the bone, plus a piece of vertebrae that had been worked on for two years so far and still had a long way to go!
We were also amazed that the project is virtually entirely self funded, apart from a Government grant to build the workshop. The Queensland Museum palaeontologists assist with specimen identification, but there is no research being undertaken by any of the universities. Unbelievable!!!
As a means of fund raising, and supplementing the workforce, it is possible to pay a fee of $70 and actually spend a day in the lab helping with the painstaking work of removing stone from the bones. If one is keener on working on a dig, getting dirty and fighting flies all day, this can happen for a charge of anywhere between approximately $1700 and $3500.
The photos are of Matilda's front leg and part of the bone stockpile.
A very clear day, no clouds, a light breeze and the temperature in the low 30s.
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