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Digging for dinosaur bones: Discover your own T.rex named Sue at Dinosaur Provincial Park
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Photo of Sue courtesy The Field Museum, Chicago.
Way back in grade school, I sat next to a geeky guy named Will. He was totally into dinosaurs, and lined his desk with colorful, plastic dinos that he would stuff back into his pockets at the end of the day. That was about the extent of my interest in the world of dinosaurs.
Jump ahead quite a few decades later, and I finally met my inner dino. Well, at least it was a dino named Sue, who has been on display at The Field Museum in Chicago since 2000. Sue is the largest, most well preserved Tyrannosaurus rex fossil ever discovered. She's 13 feet high at the hips and 42 feet long from head to tail. Here's how The Field Museum's website describes the historic find:
In the summer of 1990, Sue Hendrickson was working as a fossil hunter with a commercial fossil collecting team from the Black Hills Institute at a dig site near Faith, South Dakota. Early on the morning of August 12, the team discovered their truck had a flat tire. While most of the team went into town to get it fixed and to take a short break from the heat, Sue stayed behind to look for fossils. She hiked over to some sandstone bluffs that had previously caught her attention. Within minutes, she spotted some bone fragments on the ground. She scanned the cliffs above to find out where the fragments had fallen from and saw dinosaur bones -- big ones. She climbed up the cliff for a better look at the bones, and they were huge. She thought she had found a T.rex, and when the team returned, they confirmed her find and promptly named it Sue in her honor.
During the summer of 2009, people can participate in an authentic dinosaur dig at Dinosaur Provincial Park near Brooks, Alberta. Digs are either one or two days, and they include an experienced palaeontological technician (fluent in both English and French). On the dig, you'll learn the techniques of excavating dinosaurs, while working as a team to uncover fossils. The dig experience includes an orientation to Dinosaur Provincial Park and its research projects; working in a real quarry; and hiking and prospecting for new fossil finds. The dig's results will contribute to the research being conducted by the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta.
BONEBED 30 GUIDED EXCAVATIONS
Single Day Program: $180 per person. Includes full-day participation in a real palaeontological excavation. Lunch is included. Available dates: July 4, 5, 18, 19; August 8, 9, 15, 22; September 5.
Two Day Program: $500 per person. Includes two-days participation in a real palaeontological excavation, accommodations, two lunches, supper on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday. Accommodations are on-site and are private, furnished rooms. Bathrooms, kitchen (fridge, stove, microwave, dishes) and laundry facilities are shared among participants. Available dates: July 11-12, July 25-26, August 1-2.
Requirements: Be prepared to sit or kneel on the ground; work with tools under the hot sun; and hike in slippery conditions. The program is available to participants 14 years and up; participants 14-17 must be accompanied by a paying adult.
Location: Dinosaur Provincial Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is about 30 miles northeast of Brooks, Alberta.
Reservations: Call 403.378.4344, 403.378.4342 or go to www.dinosaurpark.ca.
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