Preparator's Page
| Preparators
are professionals who excavate and prepare fossils for display and
study. The long and labor intensive process involved in this work is
described in the final chapter of the book. Photographs can be very
expressive summaries of a person's nature and
character. I owe a lot to Steve Marley for knowing how to capture
this unique view of Bob Carroll, chief excavator and preparator of the
fossils from Black Cat Mountain. If you want to contact
him, Bob can be found through his website: Black Cat Mountain Trilobites. |  | | The photograph above shows a Paciphacops in
the latter stages of preparation, when the last of the carbonate
limestone matrix is being removed using the air abrasive technique.
All of this work is done while viewing the specimen through a
stereo-microscope. The last chapter of the book describes the process
of finding trilobites, excavating and extracting them, and their final
preparation for display, and includes references to similar work by
other preparators. | | Below are collections of "roughed out" material for 2009, prepared as of October 30. These have been partially excavated and are awaiting final preparatory work with air abrasive under a microscope. The upper collage shows Paciphacops species, the lower one is a mixture of Kettneraspis, Cordania and Viaphacops species. Check back later for additional images of material in preparation, as these specimens and others are brought to final presentation form. (Photographs supplied by Bob Carroll) |  |  | | Over the 2009 year-end holidays I had a chance to visit Bob and photograph specimens he had prepared. While doing this, I also captured the photographs of him in the collage below working on specimens of Kettneraspis in his new shop. |  |
|
