Fossil hunting with Caterpillar

[fifbrindacier]

Hi everybody, with @caterpillarwe went fossil hunting in several sites those past weeks.

At the end of March he showed me two quarries in the Maestritchian.

So here we went, in the beautiful country of Comminges (photos from the net).

 

A land occupied by during the Romans time.

Here, the ruins of the therms of Lugdunum covenarum. Behind you can see the little village of Saint-Bertrand de Comminges houses a Cathedral that make the village looking even smallest.

 

A country with typical traditions, dances and costumes

 

Here is the quarry of Nizan and some of the fossils found.

 

 

In the quarry of Larcan, a few kilometers away.

 

 

At the beginning of the month, my husband and i showed him two Aquitanian sites situated on the Douze river,

 

between Mont-de-Marsan

 

and Roquefort.

 

In the department of Landes, where the forest is as vast as its beach is long (it begins at  capbreton and ends at Arcachon so more than 100 kilometers in a straight line)

 

and take lovely colors during autumn.

 

Here also, the traditions are typical. The shephards used to walk with high stilts because of the marshes they had to work on.

 

Jean-Baptiste

Dominique

Edited April 16, 2021 by fifbrindacier

[Darktooth]

Hi Sophie, I really enjoy the pics! I hope that there is more to come!

[Coco]

Oh yes ! More ! Mooore please !

 

Coco

[jpc]

This looks great.  I am jealous.  

 

[Praefectus]

Nice finds! Thanks for the trip report. 

[Ludwigia]

Gorgeous scenery and gorgeous finds! Thanks for sharing.

[fifbrindacier]

You're all welcome. You can come every time You want.

[fossilcrazee]

Beautiful! Lovely sites and fossils 

[Coco]

Hi,

 

Nice ! Do you have more pics Sophie ?

 

The Cypraea !

 

Coco

[caterpillar]

They were cool outings.

Appointment for the next.

[Kasia]

Great sites and finds - soooo many echinoids in a single lot . 

[fifbrindacier]

30 minutes ago, Kasia said:

Great sites and finds - soooo many echinoids in a single lot . 

Thank you Kasia, most of them are conulus. When you're with someone who's used to find urchins and knows the sites like the inside of his pockets, that's much easier.

[fifbrindacier]

56 minutes ago, caterpillar said:

They were cool outings.

Appointment for the next.

Maybe will you show us yours ?

[Kasia]

13 minutes ago, fifbrindacier said:

Thank you Kasia, most of them are conulus. When you're with someone who's used to find urchins and knows the sites like the inside of his pockets, that's much easier.

That's true - I myself have found maybe 3 echinoids in total :), so I'm always envious when I see such an abundance. The plate with the echinoid and snails looks really cool, too  

[caterpillar]

2 hours ago, fifbrindacier said:

Maybe will you show us yours ?

 

Done

 

 

[Harry Pristis]

Nice trip report to a very interesting place.  I had to find out more.  The location is SW France, just north of the Spanish border.

 

[from Wikipedia]

In 72 B.C. the Roman General Pompey, while on the way back to Rome after a military campaign in Spain, founded a Roman colony there. The goal was to defend the passage to the Aran Valley in the Pyrenees and the Iberian peninsula.

 

The colony was named Lugdunum Convenarum and had reached around 30,000 people at its highest point.[3] It belonged to the Roman province of Novempopulana and had a growing Christian community, which by the late fourth century got its own Diocese of Comminges, which was suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Eauze. It is believed to have been the place of exile from 39 AD of Herod Antipas, with his wife Herodias, under Emperor Caligula's orders.[citation needed] In 405 the Vandals sacked the city[3] and forced the peasantry to move to the citadel.

 

In 585 another Germanic invasion, by the Burgundians under king Guntram, entirely razed the site in the course of their pursuit of Gundoald. It would remain deserted for nearly five centuries. The bishopric however persisted under the name of Comminges and was transferred in the ninth century to the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Auch.

 

In 1083 a knight related to the Counts of Toulouse, Bertrand de l'Isle-Jourdain, canon of Saint Augustine in Toulouse, was nominated bishop of Comminges. He ordered the construction of the cathedral and of the Romanesque cloister. The place became used by pilgrims as a stage on the route to Santiago de Compostela.

 

Bertrand de l'Isle was canonised and became known as Saint-Bertrand in the 13th century and Lugdunum Convenarum became known as Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges. The term Comminges itself comes from the Latin word "Convenae", meaning "those who came together" at Pompey's new settlement.

[fifbrindacier]

10 hours ago, Kasia said:

Great sites and finds - soooo many echinoids in a single lot . 

Behind the plate there is a big coral, it's a really cool plate.

[fifbrindacier]

40 minutes ago, Harry Pristis said:

Nice trip report to a very interesting place.  I had to find out more.  The location is SW France, just north of the Spanish border.

 

[from Wikipedia]

In 72 B.C. the Roman General Pompey, while on the way back to Rome after a military campaign in Spain, founded a Roman colony there. The goal was to defend the passage to the Aran Valley in the Pyrenees and the Iberian peninsula.

 

The colony was named Lugdunum Convenarum and had reached around 30,000 people at its highest point.[3] It belonged to the Roman province of Novempopulana and had a growing Christian community, which by the late fourth century got its own Diocese of Comminges, which was suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Eauze. It is believed to have been the place of exile from 39 AD of Herod Antipas, with his wife Herodias, under Emperor Caligula's orders.[citation needed] In 405 the Vandals sacked the city[3] and forced the peasantry to move to the citadel.

 

In 585 another Germanic invasion, by the Burgundians under king Guntram, entirely razed the site in the course of their pursuit of Gundoald. It would remain deserted for nearly five centuries. The bishopric however persisted under the name of Comminges and was transferred in the ninth century to the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Auch.

 

In 1083 a knight related to the Counts of Toulouse, Bertrand de l'Isle-Jourdain, canon of Saint Augustine in Toulouse, was nominated bishop of Comminges. He ordered the construction of the cathedral and of the Romanesque cloister. The place became used by pilgrims as a stage on the route to Santiago de Compostela.

 

Bertrand de l'Isle was canonised and became known as Saint-Bertrand in the 13th century and Lugdunum Convenarum became known as Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges. The term Comminges itself comes from the Latin word "Convenae", meaning "those who came together" at Pompey's new settlement.

Wow Harry, that's a nice summary of Saint-Bertrand de Comminges' history !

The town was more spreaded than Lutetia. The name comes from the celtic god Lug (the luminous, god of trade) and dunum (hill, fortification). Convenarum comes from the celtic tribe Convènes (name formed by Con (with) and ueni (family, clan) = those who are from the same clan).

Edited April 16, 2021 by fifbrindacier

[jnoun11]

dominique is certainly the best guide for the southwest region, nice report!

[Jeffrey P]

That looks like one of my dream outings. Excellent finds! Congratulations and thanks for sharing your wonderful photographs. 

[fifbrindacier]

15 hours ago, Coco said:

Hi,

 

Nice ! Do you have more pics Sophie ?

 

The Cypraea !

 

Coco

No, i don't have more ones, sorry.

[fifbrindacier]

1 hour ago, Jeffrey P said:

That looks like one of my dream outings. Excellent finds! Congratulations and thanks for sharing your wonderful photographs. 

Thank you very much Jeffrey, you're welcome here whenever you want.

[fifbrindacier]

3 hours ago, jnoun11 said:

dominique is certainly the best guide for the southwest region, nice report!

Hi Serge, are you, how's Morocco ?

[Lorney]

Thanks for sharing your pictures. It is nice to know there are some fossils around the Landes area. I may have to look a bit harder next time I am over there for work and once the confinement is lifted. Such a beautiful place. 

[Coco]

Hi,

 

On 4/15/2021 at 11:20 PM, fifbrindacier said:

 

 

 

Do you know the names of these ones ? Are there several species in this genus on this site ? Are there two species in this photo ? Do you have any documentation to identify these shells ? I have fossils from there but nothing to work on...

 

Coco

Edited April 17, 2021 by Coco