Triceratops Partial Skull Prep

[CSimpson176]

Hey everyone! I recently received a partial Triceratops sp. skull excavated from Meade County, SD. Unfortunately the skull was weathered before and after fossilization, what survived was the left brow horn, edge of the left squamosal, what I assume to be fragments of squamosal, fragments of parietal, a couple bags of float and what I think is possibly some of the jugal. The horn was already prepped but the frill fragments came mostly unprepared. I've done small prep on local Ordovician material as well as various bone fragments from the Hell Creek with hand tools to include practicing on pieces of the float, but never on this scale. My plans are to eventually make an awesome display piece with what I have.

 

I was wondering if anyone had advice on how I should appropriately tackle the hard claystone that cakes a good portion of the material. Some of it is so thin that it seems pretty difficult to get it off without damaging the underlying bone. Also have used water to help soften and get the matrix off. I've tried to read all what I can on here as far as manual prep and the way to go about it, but knew people here would have specific experience with Hell Creek/Triceratops material. Also seeking any further advice on my progress and how I should go about it. I'll try to post more pictures as I go and will gladly post more if requested! Also was wondering what papers/material is out there that could maybe help identify what sizeable chunks of the frill could are what? Thanks!

 

Started working on this piece a few weeks ago

 

 

 

 

[CSimpson176]

And currently have this as of yesterday

[Ptychodus04]

Looks good. My only suggestion would be stabilizing the bone with some Paraloid or Butvar in order to address the crumbling. Use a 50:1 ratio of plastic to acetone to start and brush it on. It will probably take a few applications to harden the bone effectively. You can use straight acetone to wipe the surface of the bone to remove the sheen left behind if you find it objectionable.

[jpc]

Looks like you are successfully removing the matrix.  You might want to take the pieces apart, especially the bigger ones, to clean out the cracks and reglue them in more precise position.  Is the thing held together by some sort of consolidant (vinac, butvar, paraloid, superglue)?  

[CSimpson176]

10 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

Looks good. My only suggestion would be stabilizing the bone with some Paraloid or Butvar in order to address the crumbling. Use a 50:1 ratio of plastic to acetone to start and brush it on. It will probably take a few applications to harden the bone effectively. You can use straight acetone to wipe the surface of the bone to remove the sheen left behind if you find it objectionable.

Thank you for the advice and honestly the reassurance! I bought a gallon's worth of PVA and planned on applying it when I deemed it complete.

10 hours ago, jpc said:

Looks like you are successfully removing the matrix.  You might want to take the pieces apart, especially the bigger ones, to clean out the cracks and reglue them in more precise position.  Is the thing held together by some sort of consolidant (vinac, butvar, paraloid, superglue)?  

The only consolidant seems to be the glue used in the field to keep it together. I hadn't really considered taking it apart due to the other side shown here (along with associated, unprepped piece) being more solid but definitely is an interesting idea if feasible! Note that the seller did manage to prep this side of the specimen as well, can't take credit for that haha. Also seems like I've had some luck in getting the thin, pesky claystone off with a wirebrush without damaging the bone.

 

[CSimpson176]

Managed to compress some pictures to post on here. This isn’t all of “Chunk” but a good bit of what I’m working with and of course I had to show the horn!

[Ruger9a]

Impressive.  Looks like a fun project.

[CSimpson176]

On 6/10/2020 at 8:58 AM, Ruger9a said:

Impressive.  Looks like a fun project.

Thank you! Definitely is quite an experience! Just hoping I can figure out what piece can go with what eventually

[FossilNerd]

A large chuck of triceratops frill and horn?! Awesome! Looks like quite the puzzle, but what you have done so far looks good! 
 

I have no advice to help, as I have never done anything with dino material, but I would trust the advice above! Like you so have only ever poked around on our local material. 
 

[CSimpson176]

9 hours ago, FossilNerd said:

A large chuck of triceratops frill and horn?! Awesome! Looks like quite the puzzle, but what you have done so far looks good! 
 

I have no advice to help, as I have never done anything with dino material, but I would trust the advice above! Like you so have only ever poked around on our local material. 
 

Thanks so much, it's great to know I'm doing alright on it from others! Just trying to bring a taste of the Mesozoic to the Bluegrass! 

 

I've been picking at it more and trying to remove little pockets of matrix out and carefully taking off the thin layers with the wirebrush. May take another piece and start working on it before long, stay tuned!