(Original Oil Paintings - Yeah, I like Sci-Fi)
(My Company Logo in Stained Glass)
(One of my Meteorite fragments [a rare Nickle-Iron type] that I found at "The Canyon Diablo Impact Crater".
I have much larger pieces also, of different composition, like my Stoney Chondrite meteorites)
(Coal From the wreck of the Titanic - I have about 2 pounds of it total, along with plates, silverware, etc)
([Upper part of the picture] Although referred to as an 'Academic Gift of Appreciation', this is basically stuff that would normally have been thrown away during the excavation of Gaius Octavian Julius Caesar Augustus' underground Bedroom Apartment in the Roman Forum [Long thought to be a myth]. People think stuff like this is saved in museums... it's not. There's so much of this type of stuff, the challenge is often "finding ways to get rid of it to keep it out of the way during archaeological digs"... some bright boy thought to call it "Academic Gifts of Appreciation" and give it away to "Partners" [people who donate LOTS of money to specific archaeologists to fund their digs].
[Lower part of the picture] I suddenly realized that what I had always thought were thick "Gravel" pathways are actually made up of thousands of years worth of broken/crushed marble from buildings and sculptures. Getting permission to take items like this out of a country is TOUGH, even when they are given to you to "Foster friendships for the advancement of archaeology, and preservation of historical artifacts", but getting them through US Customs is even tougher! Had the Marble fragments been called "Gravel", or "Trail Debris", or even "Dirt", etc, they wouldn't have let me bring them into the USA!)
A Few of the Indian Arrow Heads I've collected over the years from our Pastures and Gardens, and Various Family Fields, after they've been plowed... I have a "Crown Royal Bag" (Never even tasted the stuff, come to think on it :-/ ) FULL of Arrow Heads, Spear Heads, Animal Arrows, Bird Arrows, Stone Tomahawks, "Flat Rocks about the size of a Dinner Plate with INTRICATE Lines and stuff carved into the top of them" (NO IDEA what they were used for)... This Kinda of stuff, and Civil War Era Stuff, Are CONSTANTLY rising up out of the ground... as anyone who's ever had a Garden/Farm/Ranch knows, "Picking Rocks" (And REALLY WEIRD stuff) is a CONSTANT job. Our Mountain Top was used by the Local Militia during EVERY conflict on US Soil, because our town is Geographically Isolated, with ONLY a few Roads/trails Through the Mountains 360 Degrees around us... From up here, the Militia could see ANYONE trying to come over the passes, day or night, and even take them under fire with Cannons. So we Find Musket Balls, Belt Buckles, "Stuff Militamen 'Cached' here before going into town, and never came back to get for some reason", etc.. Our town has NEVER been invaded by an army, so people brought their valuables HERE from the surrounding states, to "Hide it from the Invading Armies"... So "Cached Stuff" can be found near just about EVERY "Huge Rock", "Weird Land Formation", etc (Anything "People could easily remember later, or describe to a family member later")... and THEY never came back for THEIR stuff either.. It's why I have METAL DETECTORS! ;)
Megalodon Tooth
(I've found MANY while Diving at a River in Coastal SC, but this is the Biggest... about the size of a Serving Platter... The pic (below) should give you some "Scale" for a "Regular Sized Megalodon Jaw and Teeth")
And *YOU* were Afraid of the movie "JAWS"?!?!?! ;)
