Fossil Preparation Laboratory

The fossil preparation lab is located in the Thomas Condon Visitor Center.

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Welcome to our Fossil Preparation Laboratory! This is where fossils are taken after being removed from the field. Here, fossil preparators work carefully to make material available for study. Each fossil goes through custom preparation treatments depending on the complexity and preservation of the specimen before researchers can safely handle it.

 

A window into the lab allows visitors to watch the fossil preparation process.

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Preparation and Stabilization

This is the painstaking removal of the surrounding matrix from the fossil. Preparators use several different tools and techniques to carefully remove matrix. Air scribes are pneumatic tools that function like tiny jackhammers and remove matrix without ever touching the fossil. Dental picks and micro-needles may be used for more detailed preparation of delicate structures.

Safety is a major consideration so preparators wear eye protection, face masks, vibration protection, and ear muffs to protect from fossil debris, dust, tool vibration, and loud noises.

Each step of preparation is thoroughly documented describing the fossil, the hours spent working on it, what tools or chemicals were used, and noting any pre-existing damage on the fossil.

All fossils taken from the field that require preparation must be stabilized as they are prepared. Fragile fossils are then held together by reversable plastics dissolved in acetone. These archival plastics are used both in glues and in consolidants* that have varying amounts of thickness needed for specific jobs. Fossils are placed within garnet sand** that safely holds them in place while being glued. Storage cradles that cushion and support fossils can be made of plaster bandages, plaster and burlap or quilt batting, and foam. These cradles are important to protect specimens in long-term storage from breaking by providing support.

Once preparation and stabilization are complete, fossils are ready to be put on display, in collections, or prepared to make a cast.

*A consolidant is a substance that is able seep into the pores of fossils to increase its strength. This differs from a glue which binds separate pieces together but does not increase the strength of individual pieces.

**Garnet sand is incredibly fine sand that is made of crushed garnet gemstones. Garnet is often used for several industrial uses, but in our lab it is used to support fossils during gluing or storage jacket construction. This is used in place of ordinary sand, as it lacks the fine silica dust which can cause respiratory diseases if inhaled, so it is safer for our paleontologists.

 

The casting process begins with making a mold of the fossil.

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Molding and Casting

Molds of fossils are created for producing casts that are utilized for display and research. A mold is constructed first with clay and filled with silicone rubber around part of a fossil. Molds can come in one or several parts. After being flipped and repeating the process as many times as needed, the silicone mold is completed. To support the mold while making the case, a rigged plaster mother mold is made to help prevent warping, twisting, and buckling of the rubber while pouring the cast. In our lab we pour tinted polyurethane resin into both halves of the mold, place together, and leave overnight for a complete fossil cast to be removed the following day. These casts can then be sent to researchers, kept in collections, or painted to be put on display.

 

Jennifer Cavin is the park's paleontology lab manager.

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About Our Preparator

Jennifer Cavin is a paleontologist and preparator and at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. She serves as the park’s paleontology lab manager. Fossil preparators are among the first to see complete fossils removed from the original stone and plaster jackets and can spend hundreds of hours on a single fossil. It takes great patience and expertise to become a fossil preparator and without the work of paleontologists like Jennifer, the details of ancient animals could not be captured and put on full display for all to enjoy. Learn more about our fossil preparator, Jennifer Cavin.

Learn more about our paleontology team.