24 Hours, 150 Million Years: Inside a Dinosaur Dig in Wyoming
“Humans are actually closer in age to dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period than Cretaceous dinosaurs are to those of the Jurassic period”, explains Dr Anne Schulp.
“Cretaceous dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago, and Jurassic dinosaurs lived 150m years ago,” he pauses, for effect… “so, humans are in fact closer evolutionarily to a triceratops than a triceratops is to a diplodocus.”
Anne, the lead scientist at the dig, let this fact sink in – an impish smile as he enjoys watching us process.
Dr Anne Schulp
This was just the start of one of the most unique and most fascinating life experiences I can recall. 24 hours in the company of passionate scientists, working against the clock to excavate a dinosaur; yet more than that, a chance to truly understand and appreciate the world we’re living in, and unlock the secrets of the rocks and earth around us.
We were in Wyoming. The secret dig site is right by the Montana border; we cross an endless fence line that delineates the state border.
Wyoming, Left; Montana, Right
The site is at the top of what’s called the Morrison formation. To laymen, once a prehistoric beach. Now a cliff, formed with many layers of sediment deposits. The sandstone rocks in the area formed from that beach and are marked with countless dinosaur footprints. The once-present sea channeled the animals down the beach, so the concentration of track imprints is incredibly high.
Around us, modern prospecting claims and signs in the earth stake the territory of mineral and mining firms; this is still the Wild West. Today, the signs are for Bentonite, perhaps zirconium. But make no mistake; we’re in a desert, and it’s pretty inhospitable.
Recent rain has excited the cacti; rare colours have broken out, and patches appear like a prickly meadow. But humans and animals must have a reason to come here. There is no agriculture or grazing, no bird life. Just lizards. Maybe some burrowing rodents, a rattlesnake. A pretty short food chain.
In a short hour’s walk, a geologist takes us to the top of a 150 metre hill – and through 150 million years of history. It is impossible not to become curious as to why the formation of the rocks has preserved the fossils of the animals that lived there. And there were clearly a diverse ecosystem of animals.
The dig site is the center of The Luminaire’s experience; a hive of activity with 20 paleontogists digging through a ton of clay and earth; but doing so only armed with blunt pallet knives, trowels, and brushes. Excitement catches the group, and a shout goes up; a bone has been found. The bones are easy to spot. They are fossilised, jet black, and stand out dramatically from the light brown clay.
Sometimes a bone is from the main event; the Sauropod the team is here to excavate; sometimes, it’s from another dinosaur, like the carnivorous Allosaurus. The tooth is so well preserved, you can see the serrations; evolution’s answer to a killer steak knife. Dinosaur fossils are so plentiful here, scientists are almost cavalier with it. Small unidentifiable fragments are bagged up to give to school kids.
“Hey, a piece of dinosaur bone can make a kid’s day,” explains a scientist.
It’s intriguing work. Dinosaur skeletons are not, as you might believe, layed out, neatly, bone by bone. Millions of years of tectonic movements twist the earth and move the fossils on three-dimensional planes. Carcasses may also have been scavenged. Sometimes, a well out-of-place bone has tell-tale tooth marks; this adds to the detective work. Everyone is formulating theories; why is this bone here? What can we learn? It’s part of the fun.
The team sends a scout to the hilltop to look for rain clouds in the distance. Rain is the enemy of the dig.
“It’s not like Jurassic Park where the whole skeleton is excavated, and you can see it all from above,” explains one of the scientists. “When we get a bone out, we have to get it out and protected, as soon as possible!”
Rain is spotted; but it may miss the dig site.
The enthusiasm is infectious; contagious. I dig in an area where three tail bones have been exposed all at the same level; logic and probability feel like I must find another. I find something; sadly, nothing significant. So the desire grows to continue.
It’s like digging for gold. A T-Rex skeleton sold at auction for £32 million; so perhaps even more valuable than gold. The endeavour, led by scientists, has priceless significance because the skeleton will be owned by a museum, not a millionaire, and will be on public display.
And it has other value.
These scientists hope to learn more about when these dinosaurs lived, and with dating processes becoming more and more accurate, it may be possible to identify that this particular Sauropod lived several million years later than any others discovered. A few million years could mean evolutionary changes; and would that mean that this long-necked dino is different enough to be its own species, a new name even?
That is just an awesome ideal, to be part of that discovery.
This hope is what keeps these women and men digging, under baking sun, and endless skies. They say in Wyoming, if you don’t like the weather, just wait 5 minutes. The same could be true of the scenery.
Contrasts of scrub desert, red sandstone, grey granite, green alpine pastures, high plateau, and snow-capped rocky peaks add texture to the place. Wyoming is unique, dinosaurs or not.
Granite canyons
Desert rain storm approaching
Finally, rain clouds appear directly overhead. A whistle blows and the digging stops; like a factory shift; the teams protect what’s still exposed and pack their tools.
The work will continue tomorrow; and until it’s completed.
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Adam Sebba launched UK-based luxury travel business, The Luminaire in 2021, for a new archetype of traveller with a mission to reinvent purpose driven travel, and create customer experiences for brands and hotels. Sebba brings 25 years of experience, the last ten years of which has been gained in luxury, company turnaround and investment. With an MBA from Imperial College London, he started his business career at the consulting firm AlixPartners. Prior to founding The Luminaire, Sebba worked in corporate VC for Diageo, was the CEO of Cookson Adventures and ran the luxury fashion brand, Antonio Berardi. Adam was recently named one of the 50 most influential people in British luxury in the Walpole Power List.
