Day Three consisted of an early morning visit to the geology collection with Christopher Broughton, who is also known as Dr Fossil. I was excited about seeing the collection, as I don’t really know anything about geology apart from watching the TV series walking with Dinosaurs and looking at dinosaur books when I was little, so you could say my knowledge is limited!
I meant Chris at 9am in the morning. Now when thinking about Wolverhampton, the West Midlands or even you UK you don’t really think it as a place that is associated with Mammoths, insects the size of tables or place that was also prone to sandstorms or a place that was tropical and exotic. You also don’t here the name the great woodland any more…
Wolverhampton, the West Midlands and the UK are not the same places as we see today, the changes in the climate has meant that it has many different plants and mammals some are obviously now extinct. To try and think back 450 million years ago, is a hard thing to do, especially if you struggle to remember where you put your car keys. However today Chris gave me an a basic insight into different periods of time such as the Silurian, Jurassic, Triassic periods.
Indeed during these periods strange things existed and strange things happened, creatures consisted of the famous ‘Dudley Bug’ (Trilobite), Chaincoral and Trailerbites,. These are all things that can be found from the Silurian period, and also from Wren nest in Dudley. The ‘Dudley Bug’ helped earn extra money from the miners working in the area, often the miners would find the head of a ‘Dudley Bug’ and carve the body and then sell it to gullible buyers. This period was also famous for squids.
Jumping 100 million years a head saw an oxygen content to 35% compared to 25% today, this meant that creatures and insect grow to bigger lengths. This period housed strange or dreamlike life forms such as a grabspiders.
250 million years ago saw the UK cover in sand dunes and much like a dessert. Which later became the Triassic period, this was when the first form of Dinosaurs appeared. Chris explains than points to a footprint of a Dinosaur that has been fossilized through mud and water.
The Ice Age may be perceived to be like a Climate that was covered in Ice and really cold climate, this isn’t correct, the Ice Age had up and downs. Meaning there were periods of cold and hot. Dr Fossil then points to a tooth that belonged to a baby mammoth also states that they have fully grown tooth. Amazing!
Chris goes on to talk about Dr Fraser, a Botanist and Geologist that arrived from Glasgow to Wolverhampton in 1866, he is responsible for most of the collection due to his career as surgeon and a GP and his passion for collecting fossils. He often lead in organise fieldtrips around Dudley and also Cannock Chase, Staffordshire. I feel that I should carry out further research into Dr Fraser as he maybe a good way to link to both collections. It’s at this point I start to think about how I can link and carry out my work in reference to art and geology.
In the afternoon, I continue to research in the Victorian and Georgian painters in the resource centre in the gallery. I also carry out further research into Dr Fraser. And also wonder about the process that the Victorian/Georgians used to find fossils, compared to the formula 1 process that can be used today.
I really enjoyed my time in the geology collection and the insight that Dr Fossil gave me. I just hope that I can pull something together…
Here are some useful links from Chris…
