update, of the weekly variety

it's Photo Collage Madness 2008! Click through to our flickr.com page for highlights and more photos.

Gallivanting in Mexico aside, paleontology marches on here at Rancho La Brea. The grid that had been giving us so much trouble two weeks ago has met its match, and its demise:

l to r: Saber-toothed cat humerus, giant ground sloth vertebra, dire wolf skull.

The dire wolf skull had been upside-down in the grid; once we got it out and flipped it over, we discovered that it was heavily grooved and pitted as a result of pit wear. Or, in other words: there's a hole in his head! Observe:

On the left: a dire wolf skull with a gaping hole in his forehead. On the right, our fair leader Kristen (who will hopefully be joining this blog in the near future), forehead still intact. Click through to our flickr site for more close ups (of the dire wolf skull, not Kristen)...

In other news:
-we've measured out approximately 34 bones since Oct 31st.
-we just opened a new deposit: number 10A. Photos forthcoming.
-we've made a great deal of progress in our mapping -- the entire surface of deposit 1 has been sketched and stitched together. Again, photos forthcoming.