The Fossil Pit

Charli Mills has prompted us to quarry out a rocky tale this week;

January 19, 2017 prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a about a quarry. It can be a place or include the by-product. The quarry can be operational, abandoned, it can be in real-tie or mentioned from another time. Where will the quarry take you? Go where the prompt leads.

Samuel Beckles in his quarry

The professor looked into the quarry and gasped, he was impressed, and it took a lot to impress the man who had given the world dinosaurs.

When he had seen the tiny fossil, and told his friend he needed more specimens, now buried under thousands of tons of rock, he had never expected this. He climbed down.

“We have them.” Were his friend’s first words. He held out a rock, full of tiny black bones .

“It’s true – mammals did live with the dinosaurs.” The professor gave one of his rare smiles.

“Time to rewrite the text books again.”

Another true story.

In 1854 a tiny jaw was discovered at Durlston, near Swanage in Dorset. It looked like a mammal jaw but at the time it was thought that mammals had not existed alongside dinosaurs. Professor Richard Owen (the man who had coined the word Dinosaur) knew that this problem could only be solved with additional specimens. His friend, Samuel Beckles, a wealthy amateur, was looking for an interesting project. Owen suggested Durlston, not meaning it seriously but Beckles took him at his word. Removed over three thousand cubic metres of rock to reach the thin fossil bed – and rewrote the text books.