Gray Fossil Site--late Miocene

[MarkGelbart]

On my trip to Roan Mountain on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, I thought about visiting the Gray Fossil Site and Museum near Johnson City, but decided not to drag my wife and daughter over there.

www.grayfossilmuseum.com

It's a spectacular late Miocene fossil site still being excavated. The list of species found is impressive--check out the website.

Guided tours of the site and museum are reasonably priced, but I noticed they charge $100 for people to help them excavate the fossil site. I'm certain they do not let the people that pay to help them keep the fossils they find.

Would anyone here pay $100 to collect fossils they couldn't keep?

[PrehistoricFlorida]

I wouldn't pay $100 to collect fossils that I could keep.

[mommabetts]

Not in this life time.

[Uncle Siphuncle]

H*ll no! I'll occasionally pay to collect, but I need my sweat equity fossils lying around the house to gaze fondly upon to help me recount the memories of that particular field adventure. Somebody should pay ME to help them extricate their fossils if they insist on keeping them....I am open however to collecting for free at exclusive sites where it is agreed upon up front that scientifically significant finds must be donated to science....I've done this several times before and each time have still been allowed to keep cool stuff for my private collection, the experience and the "trophies" making it all worth the effort and expense.

[brachiomyback]

for $12.50 I would....

Just saw an add in a "local magazine" advertising a new dinosaur exhibit / fossil dig site in Durham, North Carolina (Museum of Life & Science)

Access to the dig site is included in the admission pass. (Children 3-12: $9.50, under 3: free)

I'm suspecting the "material" is from the Lee Creek Mine from Aurora, NC - Pungo Formation spoils since I saw references elsewhere that they are marine fossils.

Or you could go directly to the Aurora Fossil Museum (free; however donations are always welcome) and dig away right across the street.

- Brad

[Cris]

The museum here welcomes people to come and work for them for free. Not me. Sure, they're great sites but what do I have to show at the end of the day besides a bunch of sore muscles? And in the case you mentioned, sore muscles and a thinner wallet.

[Tr-J-K]

People pay more than that to excavate with big museums from across the country from federal lands, where they obviously don't get to keep the fossils. But they put away good experience, help support the museum, and further the cause of science.

For what its worth, that website is somewhat hard to navigate, so I don't see where you could excavate at all. Any direct link or more information about exactly what that $100 buys you (meals? multiple days? t-shirt?)?

[Auspex]

If it were a guided learning experience, I would call it cheap tuition.

As a birding guide, my standard rate was $225 per day plus expenses, and all my clients got their money's worth.

[Fossilcollector]

Hmm, the last time I went to the Gray Site Museum (in April), guided tours were only $6-10 and they were looking for students and other volunteers to work for free to help sort and prep their collections and collect.

I guess they're having funding issues? Or maybe since it's summer they have tons of volunteers and they want paying volunteers to earn the credit, which does make sense. If you're going to get some credit for it or use it as an example of professional field experience, then paying $100 for it is not bad.

I do know several museums, like the NJ state museum, and others have summer collecting trips that are two weeks long in the west where you pay to help them collect and don't keep anything, but for a few hundred dollars for a two week trip and equipment and expertise, that's pretty good.

-YvW

[MarkGelbart]

People pay more than that to excavate with big museums from across the country from federal lands, where they obviously don't get to keep the fossils. But they put away good experience, help support the museum, and further the cause of science.

For what its worth, that website is somewhat hard to navigate, so I don't see where you could excavate at all. Any direct link or more information about exactly what that $100 buys you (meals? multiple days? t-shirt?)?

I got the $100 quote from a brochure I picked up at the hotel I was staying in.

[Guest N.AL.hunter]

I would pay a small fee to dig at a dinosaur site just to have the experience. And I would also pay a small fee to dig/collect at a site if I thought the value of the fossils I would get was enough to justify the price. For example, in the White River formation, I would pay a rancher to collect on their property for oreondont and others species, cause the value of one whole skull would be enough to justify the cost. And, I know that many of us have paid to collect fish from the Green River formation.

[siteseer]

H*ll no! I'll occasionally pay to collect, but I need my sweat equity fossils lying around the house to gaze fondly upon to help me recount the memories of that particular field adventure. Somebody should pay ME to help them extricate their fossils if they insist on keeping them....I am open however to collecting for free at exclusive sites where it is agreed upon up front that scientifically significant finds must be donated to science....I've done this several times before and each time have still been allowed to keep cool stuff for my private collection, the experience and the "trophies" making it all worth the effort and expense.

There used to be public digs on private property just outside Bakersfield where the Sharktooth Hill Bonebed was exposed. The landowner removed the overburden for you (at least 10 feet of overlying rock) so you were digging into the layer itself. It was $50 per person or free to people who went through a volunteer program at the Buena Vista Museum. You were allowed to keep just about everything but rare specimens like land mammal bones, bird bones, unusually large megalodon teeth or significant marine mammal pieces. Fifty bucks might sound like a lot but it's a very productive layer and the dig benefitted the museum. If you couldn't find at least enough teeth/small bones to fill a 16 oz. butter tub in a couple of hours, then you weren't digging very hard or you were unusually unlucky. With all those people digging you could find stuff picking through someone else's dump pile too.

As for the "Gray site," $100 sounds steep to me too.

There is a book about the discovery and development of the site, "The Bone Hunters: The Discovery of Miocene Fossils in Gray, Tennessee" by Harry Moore - available on Amazon.

[Daveallen10]

If you could keep some of the finds...it might be worth it.

But I cant imagine paying such a sum for anything I couldnt keep. It would just make me feel terrible afterwards.

I had to give up a nice gar head at a pay-to-dig site in the Green River Formation of Wyoming, never could forgive myself for letting the guy see it.

[siteseer]

If you could keep some of the finds...it might be worth it.

But I cant imagine paying such a sum for anything I couldnt keep. It would just make me feel terrible afterwards.

I had to give up a nice gar head at a pay-to-dig site in the Green River Formation of Wyoming, never could forgive myself for letting the guy see it.

That's weird. You'd think they'd let you keep an isolated gar head. They must've figured the rest was there. Either that or they thought with the magic of prep they could attach it to the body of one that had an exploded head.

You've lost a gar head (what were you going to do with it anyway?) but it's better to be thought of as honest.

[Dare2Dream]

There used to be public digs on private property just outside Bakersfield where the Sharktooth Hill Bonebed was exposed. The landowner removed the overburden for you (at least 10 feet of overlying rock) so you were digging into the layer itself. It was $50 per person or free to people who went through a volunteer program at the Buena Vista Museum. You were allowed to keep just about everything but rare specimens like land mammal bones, bird bones, unusually large megalodon teeth or significant marine mammal pieces. Fifty bucks might sound like a lot but it's a very productive layer and the dig benefitted the museum. If you couldn't find at least enough teeth/small bones to fill a 16 oz. butter tub in a couple of hours, then you weren't digging very hard or you were unusually unlucky. With all those people digging you could find stuff picking through someone else's dump pile too.

As for the "Gray site," $100 sounds steep to me too.

There is a book about the discovery and development of the site, "The Bone Hunters: The Discovery of Miocene Fossils in Gray, Tennessee" by Harry Moore - available on Amazon.

Those digs were very nice, especially in the earlier years. The last dig there in 2007 however was a complete bust. Most of the area had already been dug out and they had the place packed (at least 100 diggers) plus a group from east coast. Finding a place to dig was quite difficult. Plus it happened to rain that morning, so their original plan to take half the group to another location never materialized. Making a long story short, it turned out to be the most worth less dig ever. A few years back, digging there was amazing, one could easily find a good untouched spot to dig with perhaps 30-40 people all around that small hill and anyone who dug found teeth. Sadly, there were a few guys who had their Megs > 5" confiscated which was a bit harsh.

[Nicholas]

I would pay only if I learned some valuable techniques, and I was given copies of all the research done on the specimens fount. I'd want to be kept in the loop. I'm with Auspex, I consider it cheap tuition or a grand learning experience if the dig was done properly... Although I'm sure you could volunteer at some places for free.

[Guest Smilodon]

On my trip to Roan Mountain on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, I thought about visiting the Gray Fossil Site and Museum near Johnson City, but decided not to drag my wife and daughter over there.

www.grayfossilmuseum.com

It's a spectacular late Miocene fossil site still being excavated. The list of species found is impressive--check out the website.

Guided tours of the site and museum are reasonably priced, but I noticed they charge $100 for people to help them excavate the fossil site. I'm certain they do not let the people that pay to help them keep the fossils they find.

Would anyone here pay $100 to collect fossils they couldn't keep?

OK, I've been a good little fossil guide here but it's time to put in a plug for my fossil dig. What would you pay to possibly come home with an Oligocene Sabercat SKELETON or a Titanothere skull. It's happened.

Remeber, It ain't braggin' if you can back it up.

Please visit my website:

www.millersfossils.com