A few weeks ago we got together with our local hs group and went on a field trip. And what a field trip it was! We first met up at the Mauer Rathaus (city hall) where they have a small museum devoted to finds in the area, including the jawbone of the Heidelberg Man (which we visited on our first field trip).
Indy outside the Rathaus
Rathaus
The X on the photo marks where they found the jawbone:
After we left the Rathaus we went to the site where they found many of the remains. You can't see where the jawbone was found (it's on the other side of the mountain), but many things were found on this side as well.
From there we drove up to Messel just south of Frankfurt to visit their museum and the famous fossil pit.
This is the fossil of a very small ancestor of the horse. They were only 10-20 inches from the ground to their shoulder. IIRC, 74 of them have been found in the fossil pit.
The weather was no cooperating, but we didn't let that stop us. Just as we left the ticket office of the pit, the bottom dropped out of the sky. I tried to take photos, but it was raining so hard the pictures were all blurry. This is the group at the gates of the pit:
The pit itself:
Indy in front of the pit:
Our guide showing some of the recently found fossils. She said they find birds, beetles and bats almost daily, and about 1 crocodile a month. It's a busy place!
He was really excited. I promise.
The guide handed everyone a piece of fossil and told them to take a really good look at it.
Then she told them it was fossilized poop. The kids were all grossed out.
It was a great trip and we had tons of fun and learned an awful lot.
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