Eden resident uncovers rib bone during dig travels

Eden resident Milton Hundley recently recounted his tales of discovery in Greybull, Wyo., which included uncovering an ancient rib bone and exploring notable landmarks around the area.

Hundley began his trip June 10 by car and arrived in Greybull around 3 p.m. June 12. His adventure officially began June 13 when he joined a group of dig volunteers, including Dr. Alton “Butch” Dooley, associate curator of paleontology for the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville, Va. The museum also sponsored the excavation.

The work was tedious, Hundley said, but exciting. He said the volunteers were working on uncovering several bones, one of which was a rib.

“I spent almost two hours digging the first morning and had to get up and stretch my legs,” he said. “I told one of the students to come and take over, and I showed him an idea of where I thought the bone would be. By the time I came back, he had a good amount of it scratched out.”

Dental picks and fine brushes were most of the tools used to uncover the fossils during the dig. A special method of preparing the bones for transport was used that involved super glue and plaster molds. Dooley said the bones require a great deal of work before they can be moved.

“Because the bones are so fragile, we can’t just yank them out of the ground and throw them into a car,” he said. “If we do, they will disintegrate. We have to set them almost like you’re setting a broken arm. We have to wrap them in plaster bandages that hold everything together until we can get them back to the lab and prepare them.”

The team dug on federally controlled land under the Bureau of Land Management, which brought two officials to come and supervise. Dooley said the Virginia Museum of Natural History is an approved museum for storing federal specimens, which become part of the museum collection – although legally the specimens still belong to the federal government.

Dooley said the volunteers were able to collect around 30 bones from this dig, which was a little on the low side, but typical of many excavations, he said. Although many of the more scientifically pressing specimens get pushed up the ladder, he said many can take years before they are ready to display.

“We have a huge backlog of unprepared specimens in the museum collections because Wyoming isn’t the only site we excavate,” he said. “We have hundreds of specimens that we’re slowly getting to at the museum, but it can sometimes be years before we can get someone on particular ones.”

The team also had some fun time to explore the area outside of digging work. The group went to Thermopolis, about 40 minutes south of Greybull, and spent some time at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. The Big Horn Mountains and Shell Falls were included in the itinerary.

Hundley only stayed with the team for the first week of the dig and made his way back home June 19. On the way back, he stopped by Devil’s Tower and encountered a sheep haul of nearly 300 animals during his drive home.

“This was a very special trip, because I don’t make these very often,” he said. “I did a trip last year with my grandson where we went out to the Grand Canyon and I’m glad I was able to go this year.  It was a very nice trip.”

Hundley has contributed many items from the Rockingham County area and beyond to the museum in Martinsville. He currently serves as vice president for the Rockingham County Naturalist Club.  

To check out descriptions of what the team accomplished on each day of the dig, visit www.paleolab.org.