18H; Bony Bluff, Rocky Ford
& the Historic Literature from
Echols County
In Southernmost Georgia
By Thomas Thurman
Posted 23/Dec/2024
“Fossil bones are abundant…” That’s how C. Wythe Cooke described Echol’s County’s Bony Bluff in 1943. Bony Bluff and Rocky Ford are two sites along the Suwannee River, just above the Florida line in the eastern part of the county.
A 1911 report places Rocky Ford along the Suwannee River half a mile north of the Florida line and Bony Bluff 5 miles north of Rocky Ford. But the same 1911 report states, in a different passage, that Bony Bluff is 9 miles southwest of Fargo on the Suwannee River, that would put it on the Florida line. So the location is problematic and needs to be confirmed.
The name Rocky Ford (also known as The Rock) suggests a shallow river ford, a crossing, so you’d expect a road or trail leading to it. Google Earth seems to show a dirt road leading to a river crossing from Woodpecker Route on the northwest side of the river. The dirt road appears to be private, little maintained, and gated on the Woodpecker Route end.
A 1911 report places Rocky Ford along the Suwannee River half a mile north of the Florida line and Bony Bluff 5 miles north of Rocky Ford. But the same 1911 report states, in a different passage, that Bony Bluff is 9 miles southwest of Fargo on the Suwannee River, that would put it on the Florida line. So the location is problematic and needs to be confirmed.
The name Rocky Ford (also known as The Rock) suggests a shallow river ford, a crossing, so you’d expect a road or trail leading to it. Google Earth seems to show a dirt road leading to a river crossing from Woodpecker Route on the northwest side of the river. The dirt road appears to be private, little maintained, and gated on the Woodpecker Route end.
The river has flooded many times since 1896. There’s no telling how many bones have been washed away and lost to science forever. Researchers tend to be patient, “the fossils have been there for millions of years, they’re not going anywhere.” But that’s not always true. Bluffs are erosional features. The historic literature reports that the bone beds are only exposed at low water levels.
To the author’s knowledge, there’s been no published research on the fossils from Bony Bluff and Rocky Ford, no faunal list of occurring species has been compiled. This is inexplicable since the locality has been present in the literature since at least 1896 (Samuel McCallie).
That said, in 1989 the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) published a report on a nearly complete Miocene dugong Metaxytherium calvertense, (see section 18F of this website) recovered from the Suwannee River in South Georgia. Their reported location suggests it might have come from Rocky Ford the Georgia’s geologic literature.
www.georgiasfossils.com/18f-georgiarsquos-13-million-year-old-dugong-metaxytherium-calvertense.html
www.georgiasfossils.com/18f-georgiarsquos-13-million-year-old-dugong-metaxytherium-calvertense.html
In the 1980s Florida researchers had begun by excavating locations in North Florida and recovered several dugongs (of varying completeness). Inquiring and exploring upstream into Georgia was rewarded by Metaxytherium calvertense.
Their published 1989 research does not reference C. Wythe Cooke’s 1943 paper, McCallie’s 1896 paper, or Veatch & Stephenson’s 1911 paper. It would seem they were unaware of these historical reports on Bony Bluff or Rocky Ford. However, they did consult with Paul F. Huddlestun on dating the stratigraphy and fossils recovered.
Rocky Ford and Bony Bluff need to be explored!
My personal track record has been very poor in seeing scientifically important fossils published into the literature and thus recognized and preserved in Georgia’s record.
Four years ago I arranged the donation of a oreodont snout to the Florida Museum of Natural History, on the understanding that it would be published. It was found by a friend in the Tivola Limestone of Houston County. It is the oldest known oreodont (to my knowledge) in the Southeast. It has been scanned in detail and confirmed as a ordeodont. Plans were for a doctorial candidate to publsih the find, yet it remains unpublished and unrecognized as part of Georgia's fossil record. www.georgiasfossils.com/14c1-georgias-first-oreodont--the-oldest-one-in-the-southeast.html
Collecting at Bony Bluff will be challenging, and beyond me for the foreseeable future. It will require professional efforts, at least a multi-day canoe expeidition on the Suwannee River. Someone with knowledge of the river would be preferred, but if the finds aren’t reported and published in a peer reviewed journal, then the effort to collect is meaningless to science.
Exploring Bone Bluff and Rocky Ford is something that needs to have professionals involved!
My personal track record has been very poor in seeing scientifically important fossils published into the literature and thus recognized and preserved in Georgia’s record.
Four years ago I arranged the donation of a oreodont snout to the Florida Museum of Natural History, on the understanding that it would be published. It was found by a friend in the Tivola Limestone of Houston County. It is the oldest known oreodont (to my knowledge) in the Southeast. It has been scanned in detail and confirmed as a ordeodont. Plans were for a doctorial candidate to publsih the find, yet it remains unpublished and unrecognized as part of Georgia's fossil record. www.georgiasfossils.com/14c1-georgias-first-oreodont--the-oldest-one-in-the-southeast.html
Collecting at Bony Bluff will be challenging, and beyond me for the foreseeable future. It will require professional efforts, at least a multi-day canoe expeidition on the Suwannee River. Someone with knowledge of the river would be preferred, but if the finds aren’t reported and published in a peer reviewed journal, then the effort to collect is meaningless to science.
Exploring Bone Bluff and Rocky Ford is something that needs to have professionals involved!
Paleobiology Database
While hardly an official or complete record, the Paleobiology Database is likely the most complete catalog on North American fossils. It currently lists only one species collected from Echols County. That’s the 13-million-year-old (Miocene) dugong reported by Daryl Domning in 1989 (Section 18F of this website). It was recovered by Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH). Their collection site appears to be just upstream from Rocky Ford and some miles downstream from Bony Bluff.
Not included in the PaleoBiology Database is the 1974 report by Dr. Michael Voorhies at UGA. (Note; Voorhies Statenville material has been added to the Paleobiology database.) He collected multiple species of terrestrial and marine vertebrates from Statenville, GA. This is in Echols County about 21 miles west-northwest of the FLMNH dugong location on the Suwannee River. I would suspect that these are part of the same formation as Rocky Ford and Bony Bluff. FLNHM researchers acknowledged and referred to Voorhies 1974 discoveries along the Alapaha River and suspected that they were from the same formation that produced the Dugong they recovered on the Suwannee River.
www.georgiasfossils.com/18a-miocene-terrestrial-vertebrates.html
Paleobiology Database
While hardly an official or complete record, the Paleobiology Database is likely the most complete catalog on North American fossils. It currently lists only one species collected from Echols County. That’s the 13-million-year-old (Miocene) dugong reported by Daryl Domning in 1989 (Section 18F of this website). It was recovered by Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH). Their collection site appears to be just upstream from Rocky Ford and some miles downstream from Bony Bluff.
Not included in the PaleoBiology Database is the 1974 report by Dr. Michael Voorhies at UGA. (Note; Voorhies Statenville material has been added to the Paleobiology database.) He collected multiple species of terrestrial and marine vertebrates from Statenville, GA. This is in Echols County about 21 miles west-northwest of the FLMNH dugong location on the Suwannee River. I would suspect that these are part of the same formation as Rocky Ford and Bony Bluff. FLNHM researchers acknowledged and referred to Voorhies 1974 discoveries along the Alapaha River and suspected that they were from the same formation that produced the Dugong they recovered on the Suwannee River.
www.georgiasfossils.com/18a-miocene-terrestrial-vertebrates.html
West & East Echols County
Echols County has produced Miocene vertebrates from both the western part of the county, near Statenville, and the eastern part of the county near Fargo. Both localities were reported from rivers. Statenville has the Alapaha River and apparently Allapacoochee Creek (McCallie 1896). Fargo and Needmore, Georgia, have vertebrate fossils reported from the Suwannee River, just north of the Georgia/Florida State line.
McCallie’s 1896 reports of limestone along Allapacoochee Creek is troublesome. I see no such creek listed but there is the Allapacoochee River 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west of Statenville and still within the borders of Echol’s County, it is assumed this is what McCallie was referring to.
1896, 1911, & 1943
The historical Record
1896, McCallie
Samuel McCallie served as Georgia State Geologist from 1908-1933. He visited Echols County before this and published a report in 1896. McCallie reported the bone bearing bed as the Alum Bluff formation. He described several localities along west Echols county’s Allapaha River both north and south of Statenville, including multiple limestone exposures in detail in western Echols county but made little to no real mention of fossils.
McCallie describes the Alum Bluff Formation” The Alum Bluff appears in a number of different lithologic phases, including subordinate beds of pebbles, coarse angular sands, coarse grained, aluminous sandstones or grits, sandy clays, fullers earths, phosphatic sands, quartzites, sandstones, silicified clays, and limestones or calcareous layers and nodules of local extent. Greenish or gray argillaceous sands and sandy laminated clays form the greater part of the formation. The thickness of the Alum Bluff formation in Georgia is estimated to be 70 to 200 feet. At no known locality can the full thickness of the formation be seen in natural exposure, and the estimate is based chiefly on well records.
McCallie offered a good description of some of the locations fossils were found in western Echols County and his research was later followed by Michael Voorhies (UGA), who in the 1974 published a paper on Miocene vertebrate from multiple species collected in and around Statenville, in Echols County along the banks of the Allapaha River.
McCallie describes Echols County “streams are few; and, having but little current, they have rarely succeeded in cutting through the superficial sand and clays. The exceptions to the general rule occur along the Allapacoochee Creek and Allapaha river, near the state-line. Along the latter stream, south of Statenville, are a number of bluffs, varying in height from 20 to 30 feet. They are mostly confined to the east bank, and usually lie opposite low, flat palmetto lands. One of the highest of the bluffs is located about half a mile south of Statenville, on the right bank of the river. It has a height of about thirty feet and presents the following geological section:”
McCallie describes Echols County “streams are few; and, having but little current, they have rarely succeeded in cutting through the superficial sand and clays. The exceptions to the general rule occur along the Allapacoochee Creek and Allapaha river, near the state-line. Along the latter stream, south of Statenville, are a number of bluffs, varying in height from 20 to 30 feet. They are mostly confined to the east bank, and usually lie opposite low, flat palmetto lands. One of the highest of the bluffs is located about half a mile south of Statenville, on the right bank of the river. It has a height of about thirty feet and presents the following geological section:”
Author’s 2024 note; in this area phosphate pebbles are almost invariably associated with fossil beds, when I began looking at these sediments, I didn’t know what a phosphate pebble looked like, so I was happy to find the below description from McCallie, 1896, it is from the passage where he describes the 30-foot bluff.
“Phosphate pebbles vary in size from a mustard seed to half an inch or more in diameter. They are dark-gray or jet black in color; and usually they have smooth enameled surface which readily distinguishes them from other pebbles.” He reports them evenly distributed through the stratum but only make up a small percentage of the whole.
McCallie reports in western Echols County, “A similar exposure occurs on the east bank of the river, in a deep gully, a few rods below the bridge at Statenville. (A “rod” equals 16.5 feet or 5 meters.) Beneath the phosphatic sand there is a bed of limestone whose upper layers consist of about 3 feet of soft marl with many fragments of sea urchins and other fossils with more phosphate pebbles.
The author cannot say with certainty that the current bridge on highway 94 is in the same location as the bridge McCallie knew in 1896.
A few miles west of the Allapaha River, the same deposit again outcrops along the bank of the Allapacoochee Creek. The best exposures, on this stream, are to be seen at Swilley and the Kersey bridges, where the deposits are exposed in bluffs from 15 to 20 feet high. At the latter place, there occurs, overlying the phosphatic sands and conglomerate, a tough, greenish, laminated clay, with thin layers of sand, containing phosphate pebbles. The remnant of this clay was noticed at one or two points on the Green Property (1896); and it shows up well at the bluff at the mouth of a small creek, which enters the river just above Statenville. The exposure at Swilley Bridge, consist mainly of sands with pebbles of phosphate. Associated with the phosphate, are numerous fragments of bones, sharks teeth and fossil shells, the latter being especially abundant, in the lower beds, and usually highly calcareous.
McCallie, Eastern Echols County, Suwannee River, 1896
“The banks of both the Suwannee River and Toms Creek were examined… Along the former (Suwannee River) at several places near the state line, occur exposures of limestone, which is fossiliferous, and often slightly phosphatic. The bank are usually low and sandy, and rarely present opportunity for studying the underlying formations.”
1911, Veatch and Stephenson, Page 355
At Bony Bluff, nine miles southwest of Fargo, three feet of gray, compact, calcareous sand probably belonging to the Alum Bluff formation appears at very low water. This sand is full of black, phosphatic pellets from the size of a flax-seed to .25” in diameter, it and also contains large fragments of blackened bones, sharks' teeth and poorly preserved prints of shells.
The phosphatic sand is overlain by eight ten feet of brown and white sand of Pleistocene age. Large fragments of silicified wood not in place occur, but they probably came from the base of the Pleistocene sand. Similar phosphatic sand was found at "The Rocks" or "Rocky Ford," five miles below Bony Bluff, and one-half mile above the Georgia-Florida State line.
The bluff of the river at this point is 12 feet high at low water. The rock is in the bed of the river, but when the water is very low about one foot of it is exposed. It is a buff-colored sand, compacted by calcium carbonate; it is slightly more indurated than that at Bony Bluff and contains nodules of stone harder than the matrix, which appear to be due to segregations of calcium carbonate.
Bones and prints of shells are abundant; two species of Pectens, an oyster, and a number of obscure casts occur. Dr. Vaughan has identified Pecten madisonius from this locality, and states that, although the formation here is provisionally classed as Oligocene, it may be Miocene. (Wythe Cooke considered the bone bed to be Miocene.)
The bluff of the river at this point is 12 feet high at low water. The rock is in the bed of the river, but when the water is very low about one foot of it is exposed. It is a buff-colored sand, compacted by calcium carbonate; it is slightly more indurated than that at Bony Bluff and contains nodules of stone harder than the matrix, which appear to be due to segregations of calcium carbonate.
Bones and prints of shells are abundant; two species of Pectens, an oyster, and a number of obscure casts occur. Dr. Vaughan has identified Pecten madisonius from this locality, and states that, although the formation here is provisionally classed as Oligocene, it may be Miocene. (Wythe Cooke considered the bone bed to be Miocene.)
Similar phosphatic sand was found at "The Rocks" or "Rocky Ford," five miles below Bony Bluff, and one-half mile above the Georgia-Florida State line.
Veatch & Stephenson, 1911, Page 445.
At Bony Bluff, nine miles southwest of Fargo, large, blackened bones and fragments of silicified wood are found in a bed supposed to lie at the base of the formation.
Amateurs, Hank Josey & Kyle Keller, 2016
As a note, though in western Echols County, In October 2016 Henry N (Hank) Josey and Kyle Keller kayaked the Alapaha River below Statenville in western Echols County and collected both marine & terrestrial vertebrate remains as well as petrified wood. The water levels were low. Though this is a different river, it’s assumed that the silicified wood is from the Pleistocene sand deposit, bearing “large fragments of silicified wood”, which Veatch & Stephenson described above as overlying the bone bed at Bony Bluff. (See Section 18E of this website.) This suggests that the bone bed may be widespread in Echols County and further exploration should be performed and reported.
As a note, though in western Echols County, In October 2016 Henry N (Hank) Josey and Kyle Keller kayaked the Alapaha River below Statenville in western Echols County and collected both marine & terrestrial vertebrate remains as well as petrified wood. The water levels were low. Though this is a different river, it’s assumed that the silicified wood is from the Pleistocene sand deposit, bearing “large fragments of silicified wood”, which Veatch & Stephenson described above as overlying the bone bed at Bony Bluff. (See Section 18E of this website.) This suggests that the bone bed may be widespread in Echols County and further exploration should be performed and reported.
1943, C. Wythe Cooke
Wythe Cooke was one of the USGS’s lead geologist/paleontologist in Southeastern sediments and the author of the most important paper yet written on the occurrence of East Coast echinoid fossils. His Cenozoic Echinoids of the Eastern United States, 1959, is a paper written, amongst other things, to assist in dating sediments by their fossil content. So Cooke knew a thing or two about fossils and the age of their sediments.
Earlier researchers dated Bony Bluff and Rocky Ford to the Oligocene. Cooke thought they were Miocene and that seems most likely.
C. Wythe Cooke, USGS Bulletin #941, 1943, Page 94
Cooke referred to the fossil bone bearing bed on the Suwannee River as the Hawthorn Formation instead of Alum Bluff. He states; “Suwannee River below Fargo, Clinch County, has cut through the cover of Pleistocene sand into phosphatic sand of the Hawthorne formation, which is exposed only at low water. Veatch and Stephenson report exposures beneath the railroad bridge at Fargo; at Bony Bluff, 9 miles southwest of Fargo; and at Rocky Ford, 5 miles below Bony Bluff and half a mile above the State line. At Bony Bluff and Rocky Ford fossil bones are abundant, and there are also prints of shells.
Is Cooke stating that bones are under the bridge in Fargo? No. Looking back at Veatch & Stephenson’s observations beneath the bridge at Fargo confirms Cooke’s report that the Hawthorn (called the Alum Bluff in 1911) is present, but Veatch & Stephenson flatly state, “it contains no fossils”, and its identification is inferred from its appearance.
Wythe Cooke was one of the USGS’s lead geologist/paleontologist in Southeastern sediments and the author of the most important paper yet written on the occurrence of East Coast echinoid fossils. His Cenozoic Echinoids of the Eastern United States, 1959, is a paper written, amongst other things, to assist in dating sediments by their fossil content. So Cooke knew a thing or two about fossils and the age of their sediments.
Earlier researchers dated Bony Bluff and Rocky Ford to the Oligocene. Cooke thought they were Miocene and that seems most likely.
C. Wythe Cooke, USGS Bulletin #941, 1943, Page 94
Cooke referred to the fossil bone bearing bed on the Suwannee River as the Hawthorn Formation instead of Alum Bluff. He states; “Suwannee River below Fargo, Clinch County, has cut through the cover of Pleistocene sand into phosphatic sand of the Hawthorne formation, which is exposed only at low water. Veatch and Stephenson report exposures beneath the railroad bridge at Fargo; at Bony Bluff, 9 miles southwest of Fargo; and at Rocky Ford, 5 miles below Bony Bluff and half a mile above the State line. At Bony Bluff and Rocky Ford fossil bones are abundant, and there are also prints of shells.
Is Cooke stating that bones are under the bridge in Fargo? No. Looking back at Veatch & Stephenson’s observations beneath the bridge at Fargo confirms Cooke’s report that the Hawthorn (called the Alum Bluff in 1911) is present, but Veatch & Stephenson flatly state, “it contains no fossils”, and its identification is inferred from its appearance.
FLMNH
(Florida Museum of Natural History)
As mentioned above, researchers from the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) collect a nearly complete Miocene dugong and a partial muskrat tooth in the late 1980s from what might have been Rocky Ford, or a new locality.
They reported fossil bones as sparse onsite where the historical reports often report fossil bones as abundant, even for Rocky Ford. The discrepancy may be a stratigraphy issue, as we’ve seen the histories state that water levels needed to be low to expose the bone bed and, judging by the photograph of the dugong in situ, it appears to have been on the top surface above the river water line. Perhaps the dugong was above the stratigraphy of the bone bed? But pics can be misleading.
Apparently the historical bone bed hasn’t yet been explored, and it may be additional dugong material, it may be something else entirely. Only exploration and excavation will tell.
I hope the FLMNH will mount another expedition; Dr. Roger Portell, of the Florida museum has expressed interest in doing so. Maybe a Georgia institution will team-up with Roger and see the job done.
Gary S. Morgan, 1989
Gary S. Morgan of the Florida Natural History Museum reported;
Daryl Domning (an expert on dugong & manatee evolution) and I began collecting vertebrate fossils from the Miocene strata along the banks of the Suwannee River in the vicinity of White Springs (Florida) beginning in 1981 and continuing until the present (1989).
The only significant vertebrate fossils found in the vicinity of White Springs (FL) prior to 1981 were the type specimen of the sea cow Halitherium olseni collected in 1961 (Reinhart, 1976) and two shark teeth referred to Carcharodon auriculatus and a new species of small Carcharhinus by Tessman (1969).
Collecting trips were made several times each year during periods of low water when the thickest section of Miocene sediments was exposed. These efforts have produced several beautifully preserved skulls and skeletons of sirenians that are discussed in Domning’s paper in this volume.
A rich and varied marine vertebrate fauna is found in association with the fossil dugongs from the White Springs (Florida) fauna. More important from a biostratigraphic standpoint is the rare but regular occurrence of land mammals in these same beds. (Still discussing Florida but possibly the same deposits as Georgia.)
Two partially articulated specimens of land mammals have been recovered from the White Springs Local Fauna (FL), including a skull, mandibles, and partial skeleton of an oreodont and an associated hind limb of a camel. A small sample of isolated teeth of rodents and a rabbit has proven to be extremely useful for biostratigraphic correlation.
The White Springs Local Fauna is here designated for the earliest Miocene (Arikareean) vertebrate fauna recovered from sediments referred to the Porters Landing Member of the Parachucla Formation (Huddlestun, 1988), exposed along the banks of the Suwannee River in the vicinity of White Springs in Hamilton and Columbia counties, Florida (Fig. 1). Fossils from the White Springs 1A, 3A, and 38 localities (described in more detail below) comprise the White Springs Local Fauna. Vertebrate fossils included in this fauna have been collected along an approximately 10 kilometer stretch of the Suwannee River between Little Shoals 3 kin east of White Springs and the Suwannee County line 4 km west of White Springs.
Morgan also describes…
A nearly complete skeleton of the dugong Metaxytherium was discovered by Dennis Price in 1986 on the west bank of the Suwannee River about 1 km north of the Florida line in Echols County Georgia 8 km southeast of Needmore (Section 18F of this website). The sediments in which the sea cow was found consisted of greenish-gray clays and fine phosphatic sands that are tentatively referred to the Statenville Formation.
A nearly complete skeleton of the dugong Metaxytherium was discovered by Dennis Price in 1986 on the west bank of the Suwannee River about 1 km north of the Florida line in Echols County Georgia 8 km southeast of Needmore (Section 18F of this website). The sediments in which the sea cow was found consisted of greenish-gray clays and fine phosphatic sands that are tentatively referred to the Statenville Formation.
Huddlestun dates the Statenville Formation, 1989
The Statenville Formation contains a Barstovian land mammal fauna (Voorhis, 1974; Tedford and Hunter, 1984) at its type locality. According to Tedford and Hunter (1984). The Statenville land-mammal assemblage is early late Barstovian and its age is approximately 13 million years. This age determination is also consistent with the age of the Berryville Clay Member of the Coosawhatchie Formation that occurs in the Statenville stratigraphic position in eastern Georgia. The Berryville Clay Member contains a Zone NIO to Nll planktonic foraminiferal assemblage that is approximately 13 to 14 million years old (Berggren and van Couvering, 1974; Berggren and others, 1985; also see Pl. 1). It is concluded, therefore, that the age of the Statenville Formation is early late Barstovian, early Serravallian, middle Miocene.
The Statenville Formation contains a Barstovian land mammal fauna (Voorhis, 1974; Tedford and Hunter, 1984) at its type locality. According to Tedford and Hunter (1984). The Statenville land-mammal assemblage is early late Barstovian and its age is approximately 13 million years. This age determination is also consistent with the age of the Berryville Clay Member of the Coosawhatchie Formation that occurs in the Statenville stratigraphic position in eastern Georgia. The Berryville Clay Member contains a Zone NIO to Nll planktonic foraminiferal assemblage that is approximately 13 to 14 million years old (Berggren and van Couvering, 1974; Berggren and others, 1985; also see Pl. 1). It is concluded, therefore, that the age of the Statenville Formation is early late Barstovian, early Serravallian, middle Miocene.
The Historical Foundation For Modern Research
The author has been justifiably accused of obsessing over the old literature. This is true, in the author’s opinion the old literature has been long neglected and forgotten. There are many new papers waiting (longing) to be published, reputations waiting to the established and built by following-up on the historical research. Bony Bluff is a prime example. A few days in the field along the Suwannee River could be the basis for a researcher’s career.
There are multiple Georgia natural history museums which enjoy tax-payer and/or private funding, museums which charge admission fees. There are multiple Georgia institutions which pursue research grants. “Publish-or-die” is the old creed of university professors, yet many opportunities to publish seem to be squandered.
Offhand, I could name five Coastal Plain sites which represent opportunities for professional research and publication, perhaps even careers, three of which are on Georgia state or federal land.
Yes, I worry that “less-than-respectful” others might plunder these sites while the institutions and universities ignore them. Then amateurs like myself will have to listen to complaints about “vandalized” localities. But some of these sites have been known for over a century, if they remain unexplored by professionals and unpublished in the literature, it would seem unfair to accuse amateurs of exploiting them.
Amateurs also need to learn not to exploit sites. Collecting a sample or two is fine. Clean it, tag it, and display it with pride. Walking out of a site with many buckets full of everything you could dig-up or hammer-out, is exploitation of a site.
If you’re legally collecting in an active quarry where the material will be destroyed by mining processes, grabbing everything you can find is ok. But if you’re in a historic or scientifically important site, collect thoughtfully and with care.
The author has been justifiably accused of obsessing over the old literature. This is true, in the author’s opinion the old literature has been long neglected and forgotten. There are many new papers waiting (longing) to be published, reputations waiting to the established and built by following-up on the historical research. Bony Bluff is a prime example. A few days in the field along the Suwannee River could be the basis for a researcher’s career.
There are multiple Georgia natural history museums which enjoy tax-payer and/or private funding, museums which charge admission fees. There are multiple Georgia institutions which pursue research grants. “Publish-or-die” is the old creed of university professors, yet many opportunities to publish seem to be squandered.
Offhand, I could name five Coastal Plain sites which represent opportunities for professional research and publication, perhaps even careers, three of which are on Georgia state or federal land.
Yes, I worry that “less-than-respectful” others might plunder these sites while the institutions and universities ignore them. Then amateurs like myself will have to listen to complaints about “vandalized” localities. But some of these sites have been known for over a century, if they remain unexplored by professionals and unpublished in the literature, it would seem unfair to accuse amateurs of exploiting them.
Amateurs also need to learn not to exploit sites. Collecting a sample or two is fine. Clean it, tag it, and display it with pride. Walking out of a site with many buckets full of everything you could dig-up or hammer-out, is exploitation of a site.
If you’re legally collecting in an active quarry where the material will be destroyed by mining processes, grabbing everything you can find is ok. But if you’re in a historic or scientifically important site, collect thoughtfully and with care.
Canoeing For Science
Today, exploring researchers could put canoes into the Suwannee River at Fargo, Georgia and paddle downstream to survey collecting sites. Canoes carry more cargo than kayaks. Online paddling sites discuss running the Suwannee from Fargo to north Florida in a two-day trip. I suspect an earnest surveying effort would require at least that long, if not three days. It would require camping along the river. Additionally, photographs suggest possible navigation problems during low water stands, with boulders in the river, but low water levels are needed to see the bone beds. Paddlers may have to portage around obstacles.
This might be the best way to survey the river and find potential collecting sites. Interesting outcrops can me mapped and photographed, samples collected and filed observations made in preparation for a return and serious research colleting for scientific publication.
There is a boat ramp in Fargo. Georgia. Running downstream on the Suwannee River, Florida’s Roline Boat ramps is 2.5 air miles below the Florida line and seems easily accessible. Thirteen air miles separate the Fargo, GA boat ramp and the Roline, FL ramp. That may well mean 40 river miles. In good conditions that would be a full two-day paddle. But you want low water levels to look for fossils, and you want time to explore. So preparations should be made for a 3 or 4 day trip.
I’d suggest reaching out to the Suwannee Riverkeeper and the governing body of Echols County for advice and possible assistance with access and/or contacting landowners. Considering the history, there might be grounds for historical preservation and/or tourism.
Final word from Daryl P. Domning, 1989
The Suwannee (River) may well hold more surprises for us, and deserves continued and steady attention from vertebrate paleontologists, including those interested in the Miocene terrestrial fauna of Florida.
References
- Cooke, C. Wythe; Geology of the Coastal Plain of Georgia, United States Geological Survey (USGS), Bulletin 941, 1943
- Cooke, C. Wythe; Cenozoic Echinoids of the Eastern United States, Geologic Survey Professional Paper 321, U.S. Dept of Interior, USGS, 1959
- Veatch, Otto; Stephenson, Lloyd, William; Geology of the Coastal Plain of Georgia; Bulletin 26, Georgia Geologic Survey, 1911, Pg.355
- Paleobiology database, PBDB Navigator (paleobiodb.org)
- Domning, Daryl P.; Fossil Sirenians From The Suwannee River, Florida and Georgia; Miocene Palentology and Stratigraphy of the Suwannee River Basin of North Florida and South Georgia; Southeastern Geological Society, Guidebook Number 30, Annual Field Trip, 07/Oct/1989
- G. S. Morgan. 1989. Miocene vertebrate faunas from the Suwannee River basin of north Florida and South Georgia. Southeastern Geological Society Guidebook 30:26-53
- McCallie, Samuel W.; A Preliminary Report Phosphates and Marls of Georgia, Bulletin# 5-A, Georgia Geologic Survey, 1896
- Voorhies, Michael R.; Late Miocene Terrestrial Mammals Echols County, Georgia, Geology Dept., UGA, Publsihed in Southeastern Geology, 1974
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