Fossils and stones in the desert

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pinkmagic
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Fossils and stones in the desert

Post by pinkmagic »

When venturing into the desert around Luxor, you can find many interesting fossils and stones, including fossilised sea shells and squid like creatures, proving that the area must have once been under water.
By far the most abundant fossil/stone is a flattish, circular one with an inner circular ridge and a dome within this Ridge. I have long wondered whether these are fossils of some long dead Sea creature or maybe something that was produced by a volcano or similar.
I have tried to post a photo, but not having much luck. If anyone knows what they are, I would love to know.


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Re: Fossils and stones in the desert

Post by Winged Isis »

There is a way of putting a photo on the internet which will then find other images of it, some of which will be named. I'm sure one of our resident techxperts will know exactly what I mean and help you.

Have you visited the whale fossils in Wadi El Hitan?
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Re: Fossils and stones in the desert

Post by pinkmagic »

That's a good idea about the image thing, if anyone knows how to do it?

I haven't been to the whale fossils, but have seen photographs online. It is so hard to believe that such a dry, arid environment was once at the bottom of the ocean.
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Re: Fossils and stones in the desert

Post by Horus »

Do you have any sort of program on your PC that can open up your photographs? if so which one is it?

You could investigate this method of searching for similar images
https://support.google.com/websearch/an ... 5808?hl=en
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Re: Fossils and stones in the desert

Post by Dusak »

I have quite a few of the near perfect round stones, from golf ball size up to a small Mellon. These are found all over the place and make interesting garden ornaments. The roundness is created over many hundreds of years by water erosion, river and strong currents, in my opinion. The ones you have, which I also have are down to the same erosion action, but the outer, flatter surface is softer than that of the dome in the center. I found quite a lot of the round ones on the banks of the river, make good door stops. The fossils are the same, soon exposed when the more softer outer casing is eroded away.
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Re: Fossils and stones in the desert

Post by newcastle »

I've collection of round stones, given, or rather sold to me by an enterprising lad in the Nobles tombs area which, when split open, have inside the ores which the ancients used for painting the tombs .......red, yellow, green blue etc
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Re: Fossils and stones in the desert

Post by Who2 »

It's a very very big place the desert. Out there are loads of things, we once found a skull of some 'swimming bitey thing.
We each had two rather large teeth.
Seen here below are granite corn grinding tools, the Bedu informed us many could be found around the edge of a vast long dried up lake.
I once picked up a beautiful patterned pot only to discover it was just the top 6 inches.
There are many mummy's lying out there as well,
Mind you, I am not talking a few kilometers outside Luxor, I'm talking a few hundred past the Dhakla Oasis.... 8)
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Nb: Note how the sand has blown away to reveal them...
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Re: Fossils and stones in the desert

Post by Yildez »

newcastle wrote:I've collection of round stones, given, or rather sold to me by an enterprising lad in the Nobles tombs area which, when split open, have inside the ores which the ancients used for painting the tombs .......red, yellow, green blue etc
Carrie once took me on a walk to the "Valley of the Colours" - named after the abundance of rocks with the pigment used for painting. We found yellow ochre, red, and brown in abundance. Greens and blue pigment are much harder to find. It's a really interesting place, silent apart from the wind, and feels cut off from the world. Perhaps Carrie will give directions if anyone is interested?
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Re: Fossils and stones in the desert

Post by Winged Isis »

Who2 wrote:Seen here below are granite corn grinding tools, the Bedu informed us many could be found around the edge of a vast long dried up lake.
Thy are called querns.
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Re: Fossils and stones in the desert

Post by Mad Dilys »

pinkmagic wrote:When venturing into the desert around Luxor, you can find many interesting fossils and stones, including fossilised sea shells and squid like creatures, proving that the area must have once been under water.
By far the most abundant fossil/stone is a flattish, circular one with an inner circular ridge and a dome within this Ridge. I have long wondered whether these are fossils of some long dead Sea creature or maybe something that was produced by a volcano or similar.
I have tried to post a photo, but not having much luck. If anyone knows what they are, I would love to know.
Like you I find them fascinating and collected many of the completely round ones, some in chains of up to three in graduated size.

The single ones often have a perfect ring around the middle, which puzzled me for a while until I found the graduated ones and immediately thought of the oviduct of a hen which I saw when disposing of a hen killed by a fox many years ago.

If they were formed by water erosion I very much doubt that they would all be completely circular - surely they would be oval?

Why the ring around them? I think the oviduct itself rotted off and left the eggs which were almost ready to be laid, in a line. Any other ideas?

Try this site https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=fossi ... 93&bih=498
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Re: Fossils and stones in the desert

Post by pinkmagic »

I have an answer!
I posted a photo on a Natural History Museum forum and one of the experts replied this morning.
They are what are known as geology concretions, if you Google it does explain how they were formed.
The area is part of the Marine Theban limestone ridge, which was formed approximately 40 million years ago!
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Re: Fossils and stones in the desert

Post by Mad Dilys »

Amazing how much they look like the fossilized eggs though, maybe we have both? :lol:
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Re: Fossils and stones in the desert

Post by carrie »

Thanks for that Pinkmagic, very interesting and I have just read up on it.
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Re: Fossils and stones in the desert

Post by Horus »

Here’s some from Malquatta, I particularly like the one that (with a bit of imagination) looks like the head of Horus. ;)

1496414965
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