Coon Creek Fossil Dig

We have joined the Pink Palace Museum the last couple of years - our local science museum, planetarium and IMAX theater.  We enjoy the traveling exhibits, and  Eli, especially loves the science displays.  This is the first year we have been able to go to Coon Creek - in McNary County -  a few hours away - for a fossil dig sponsored by the museum.  The event is free for members, and Eli has been asking ever since we renewed our membership, "When do we get to go hunt for fossils?!"

So, this Saturday was the day!

There was a telescope set up where you could safely look at the sun!  That was pretty cool.  It looked like a big yellow circle!  You could see a few sun spots that looked like pepper specks!

Picking out hunks of dirt from where a backhoe had turned over a large area of land.

looking through our dirt!

We took any finds over to a table to use more detailed tools...

Tim found a shell piece ….

And, Eli found a crab arm!  There were fossil experts there to help us identify our pieces.  Tennessee and much of the southeastern part of the US was covered by water millions of years ago.

Searching in that dirt!

Clay impressions of Tennessee's state fossil: the ptero.

We had a fun time finding fossils!