Monthly Archives: September 2009

Watched

Mark Wilson September 8, 2009 12:01 pm

MAKHTESH GADOL, ISRAEL–Our primary field area on this trip is near Dimona, Israel.  Outside the town is a famous facility with domed buildings and a very well guarded fence, complete with cameras and razor wire.  My Israeli friends tell me … Continue reading →

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“I Know a Tree …”

Mark Wilson September 8, 2009 11:57 am

MAKHTESH GADOL, ISRAEL–Shade of any kind is rare in the Negev Desert, especially from trees.  At lunchtime in the field we want very much to be out of the sun, so usually someone suggests a lonely tree they know along … Continue reading →

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Bronze Age Predecessors

Mark Wilson September 7, 2009 1:12 pm

MAKHTESH GADOL, ISRAEL–My field area contains several rocky ruins like the structure pictured below.  These are the remains of shelters and livestock enclosures constructed during the Bronze Age about 4000 years ago.  Flint chips and the occasional scraper can be … Continue reading →

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Wandering in the Wilderness (Literally)

Mark Wilson September 7, 2009 1:08 pm

MAKHTESH GADOL, ISRAEL–Today I mapped exposures of a particular fossiliferous unit in the Matmor Formation. It meant climbing up and down steep hills bent over the ground scanning for fossils. It is a remarkable skill we humans have for visually … Continue reading →

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Ammonite Identified

Mark Wilson September 6, 2009 1:46 pm

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL–I don’t really think the readers of this blog have been anxiously waiting to hear the taxonomic identification of the ammonite I found in the Matmor Formation last week.  It is worth a note, though, to briefly describe how … Continue reading →

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A Visit to The Galilee

Mark Wilson September 5, 2009 4:18 pm

ROSH PINA, ISRAEL–This weekend my friends the Avni family took me on an overnight trip into the Galilee. It was spectacular and highly informative — they called it the “Mark Continues to Discover Israel” tour. The ostensible purpose was to … Continue reading →

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A Most Unusual Clam from the Triassic of Israel

Mark Wilson September 5, 2009 3:48 pm

MAKHTESH RAMON, ISRAEL–The Triassic was a time of unusual evolutionary innovations.  The Permian extinctions immediately before the Triassic may have wiped out up to 95% of marine animal species, so the survivors had considerable “empty niche space” to fill as … Continue reading →

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A Jurassic Ammonite Up Close

Mark Wilson September 3, 2009 2:24 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–I can’t help but show off the ammonite I found today in the middle of the Matmor Formation (Goldberg Subunit 51) at Makhtesh Gadol.  These photos are the best I could do on a kitchen sink with overhead … Continue reading →

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Tools of My Trade (At Least for Today)

Mark Wilson September 3, 2009 10:21 am

MAKHTESH GADOL, ISRAEL–The fieldwork could not have been better, although if you watched me all day in the desert sunlight you would have thought otherwise. After I hiked up into the Matmor Hills to find the right horizon, I spent … Continue reading →

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Returning to the Big Makhtesh

Mark Wilson September 2, 2009 12:38 pm

MAKHTESH GADOL, ISRAEL–During the afternoon Yoav and I drove to the center of this magnificent erosional crater to visit familiar sites and do some preliminary surveys. It was deliciously hot and dry — just the way I like it. I … Continue reading →

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