5 ms·

Nothing wrong about owning them and preserving them but I feel bad about destroying them, if not for scientific purposes. There are many of them but they are n

Nothing wrong about owning them and preserving them but I feel bad about destroying them, if not for scientific purposes. There are many of them but they are non-renewable. There is a finite supply of them. And if we create market demand for them they might go very quickly. This is how we pushed rhinos into extinction. Rhinos seemed at some point to be very abundant, now they're gone for good.

dogma1138 10y ago
Do you know how many fossils end up each day in aggregate and gravel? The vast majority of fossils even those which are scientifically collected have no real value or use, many of them can't even be sold as cosmetic paper weights and are often disposed off simply because they take too much space.
- partycoder 10y ago
  Egyptian mummies, especially mummified animals such as cats, were acquired en-masse to be processed into fertilizer. I also do not think it is the ideal use for ancient items.
  - dogma1138 10y ago
    It's not the same thing, marine fossils make up many types of aggregate. Pretty much any aggregate that is dug from places that used to be under water and is made out of sediment and marine rocks is made out of fossils. If you go to Morocco, Utah, Jordan Valley and 100's of other places around the world you can just spend some time pick up pretty nice looking specimens and go home. The 100 millionth dinosaur tooth or jawbone really doesn't add any value not to mention the 100 gazillionth coronoid that would otherwise end up in your parkway or your cat's litter box. Like seriously visit Morocco https://sites.google.com/site/gemwanderings/morocco https://sites.google.com/site/gemwanderings/morocco there and in many other places fossiles are litterarly the natural gravel in the dirt.
    - ashark 10y ago
      Coal mining alone probably destroys dozens (could be a vast underestimate) of absolutely incredible, actually scientifically valuable fossils every single day. Source: have sifted through what's left when they're done. [EDIT] point being, losing a handful of not-very-impressive pieces for this is nothing.
      - dogma1138 10y ago
        I'm not saying we are not destroying valuable things, but these are not valuable. If you go to places like morocco they sell the "nice ones" in large baskets on the market or on a side of the road, the ones that would end up in this kickstarted look like the gravel that is just naturally there.
        ashark 10y ago
        Yeah, I was agreeing. Sorry, I think I edited more meaning in just as you were responding.
      - dredmorbius 10y ago
        Not least of all the coal itself.
  - JoeAltmaier 10y ago
    The ancient Egyptians had a sort of after-life postal system, where you wrote a message and gave it to a priest and they stuffed it into a plaster mold, killed a dog, stuffed that in there, sealed it with plaster and gave it to a runner to take to the current crypt where it was unceremonially tossed onto an enormous pile. Did this many times a day, seven days a week for 500 years. The sites have dozens of buried crypts 8X8X30 or 40 feet, along a corridor, many corridors at a site, many sites across Egypt. During busy times they cut the dogs up into pieces (not enough dogs for the rush times) to satisfy the demand. There's nothing particularly important or special about the animal mummies that used to be processed into fertilizer. Just enormous piles of plaster, bone and dust in underground chambers, enough chambers to boggle the mind.
ashark 10y ago
No-one with the interest and means to preserve these fossils would have taken them for free. They're already giving/throwing away nicer pieces than these because they're out of space.

dogma1138 10y ago

Do you know how many fossils end up each day in aggregate and gravel? The vast majority of fossils even those which are scientifically collected have no real value or use, many of them can't even be sold as cosmetic paper weights and are often disposed off simply because they take too much space.

partycoder 10y ago
Egyptian mummies, especially mummified animals such as cats, were acquired en-masse to be processed into fertilizer. I also do not think it is the ideal use for ancient items.
- dogma1138 10y ago
  It's not the same thing, marine fossils make up many types of aggregate. Pretty much any aggregate that is dug from places that used to be under water and is made out of sediment and marine rocks is made out of fossils. If you go to Morocco, Utah, Jordan Valley and 100's of other places around the world you can just spend some time pick up pretty nice looking specimens and go home. The 100 millionth dinosaur tooth or jawbone really doesn't add any value not to mention the 100 gazillionth coronoid that would otherwise end up in your parkway or your cat's litter box. Like seriously visit Morocco https://sites.google.com/site/gemwanderings/morocco https://sites.google.com/site/gemwanderings/morocco there and in many other places fossiles are litterarly the natural gravel in the dirt.
  - ashark 10y ago
    Coal mining alone probably destroys dozens (could be a vast underestimate) of absolutely incredible, actually scientifically valuable fossils every single day. Source: have sifted through what's left when they're done. [EDIT] point being, losing a handful of not-very-impressive pieces for this is nothing.
    - dogma1138 10y ago
      I'm not saying we are not destroying valuable things, but these are not valuable. If you go to places like morocco they sell the "nice ones" in large baskets on the market or on a side of the road, the ones that would end up in this kickstarted look like the gravel that is just naturally there.
      - ashark 10y ago
        Yeah, I was agreeing. Sorry, I think I edited more meaning in just as you were responding.
    - dredmorbius 10y ago
      Not least of all the coal itself.
- JoeAltmaier 10y ago
  The ancient Egyptians had a sort of after-life postal system, where you wrote a message and gave it to a priest and they stuffed it into a plaster mold, killed a dog, stuffed that in there, sealed it with plaster and gave it to a runner to take to the current crypt where it was unceremonially tossed onto an enormous pile. Did this many times a day, seven days a week for 500 years. The sites have dozens of buried crypts 8X8X30 or 40 feet, along a corridor, many corridors at a site, many sites across Egypt. During busy times they cut the dogs up into pieces (not enough dogs for the rush times) to satisfy the demand. There's nothing particularly important or special about the animal mummies that used to be processed into fertilizer. Just enormous piles of plaster, bone and dust in underground chambers, enough chambers to boggle the mind.

ashark 10y ago

No-one with the interest and means to preserve these fossils would have taken them for free. They're already giving/throwing away nicer pieces than these because they're out of space.