The Big Dig

So, this past weekend I went on my very first archaeological dig at the Thomas Farm fossil site near Bell, FL! The Thomas Farm fossil site formed about 18 million years ago, during the early part of the Miocene Epoch. At that time it was a large deep sinkhole which was connected to a series of caves. Bones of dead animals from the surrounding landscape washed into the sinkhole during storms and were buried in layers of clay and sand-size grains of limestone. The most common of the larger animals at Thomas Farm are two species of three-toed horses, Parahippus leonensis and Archaehippus blackbergi. I found a femoral head and shaft of the Parahippus leonenisi. I also found the shell of a small tortoise. It was a very exciting day and I hope to have the opportunity to do more excavations in the future!