Preparing Dinosaurs – A look behind the scenes as a Fossil Preparator

I began learning to be a preparator many years ago firstly by trying to conserve and make the fossils I collected look “better” by freeing them from the matrix in which they were found. This was very much a hit and miss affair with many fossils barely surviving my attempts with, to be honest, often inappropriate tools.

Six years ago, I started volunteering at [Dinosaur Isle Museum] and began to understand that conservation and preparation requires not only a good understanding of tools and how to use them but often needs creative problem-solving skills as well. I will always be grateful to the staff at Dinosaur Isle Museum for giving me the opportunity to learn [fossil preparation].

It is not a quick process and takes a lot of dedication from both teacher and pupil and many never truly master the tools and techniques. The real difficulty with learning preparation and conservation is that many of the skills cannot be taught by “instruction” alone.  Obviously, the use of tools and other techniques can be explained and demonstrated but successful real-world use of them often relies on muscle, memory and a good understanding of how materials will respond to a particular way of working. Much of the work is non-standard and what works well with one fossil won’t work at all with another, because of differences in preservation, matrix, or deterioration of the item. Therefore, the variety of tasks a preparator undertakes will never have “standard procedures” so it is essential to have a community around you that you can refer to when tackling a new task. For me I have found the professional preparators at Dinosaur Isle, in other museums, and amateur preparators on the Island to be a friendly and supportive group who are always willing to provide advice and guidance.

The unprepared sauropod vertebra

The first large preparation problem (both technically and physically!) I undertook at Dinosaur Isle was the preparation of a large sauropod vertebra. This fossil was found by Dr Jeremy Lockwood, one of the researchers working at the museum, and probably best known for his work on iguanodontian dinosaurs and the naming of Brighstoneus simmonds. 

The sauropod vertebra turned out to be a task involving a lot of patience, because it was decided that as the specimen would be fully prepared for display. This decision was made because the vertebra was part of a large un-described sauropod and to fully prepare the fossil might help with its formal identification as we didn't know what parts of the bone were going to be important to see. 

As you can be seen from the photograph a significant amount of matrix was going to need to be removed. Some idea of the size of the task comes from the fact that I worked on the fossil two days a week (as a volunteer) for nearly a year to get it to its present standard. Most of the work was done mechanically using various air scribes to remove matrix which varied considerably from one part of the fossil to another. In some areas near the neural spine the matrix was a poorly consolidated sandy material whilst in other parts it was a pyritic siderite (a rock containing large amounts of iron) that was extremely hard and so difficult to remove. The sauropod vertebra has quite a lot of bony struts which are thin and therefore fragile, so these needed very careful consolidation whilst they were being prepared out of the matrix. It was interesting to see that there was additional growth of bony struts on one side of the vertebra when compared to the other side, resulting in an asymmetrical vertebra.

The final cleaned up specimen!

One explanation for this asymmetry could be from feeding behaviour by the living animal and its position in the sauropod herd. If the animal habitually located itself on the left or right of the herd it would need to hold its neck to one side more often than the other to avoid its neighbours. This may then have promoted additional bone growth on that side of the vertebra which was put under stress more often. This could be a similar process to that seen in English Longbow men who can be identified from the thicker bone growth in their bow arm due to the stress of repeatedly pulling the bow. A lot more work would need to be done to confirm this theory, but it shows the issues you can come across when working on these bones, they don’t always conform to the norm.

You always need to be aware and not assume you know exactly what to expect during preparation of the fossil. Since completion the vertebra has been on display in the museum laboratory to show the sort of work undertaken by staff and volunteers. It was also taken to the Munich Fossil Show (in 2022) as part of a special exhibition showcasing material from the Dinosaur Isle Museum.

Preparing dinosaur fossils is a privilege because you are the first person to see the specimen revealed from the matrix.  You have a duty to ensure you treat the fossil with maximum respect and care to ensure it is properly preserved and prepared with the minimum of damage. This approach followed with appropriate storage will result in the long-term safeguarding of the collection.  Working on any specimen is always a series of decisions and risk assessments but there is never a “textbook” answer available to solve a any problem!