Uploads from jtaylor14368

Pultusk

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:17:11 -0700

This historic Pultusk specimen was recently deaccessioned from the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and it possesses a collection number from that institution (#ME1585) as well as two from the famous Ward-Coonley Collection (#440/519). This individual weighs 6.44 grams and fell January 30, 1868, in Warsaw, Poland. Ex Tricottet and M. Farmer.

Holbrook AMNH

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:31:04 -0700

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

This tiny 1.1 gram Holbrook pea possesses a hand painted number from the AMNH. Ex Tricottet collection.

Elbogen

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:53:39 -0700

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

This historic IID med octahedrite iron was preserved in a castle in Bohemia, Czechoslovakia, and dates back to ~1400 AD. During it's storied history, attempts were made to melt the mass in a primitive blast furnace and it also survived a 34 year stint at the bottom of a well between 1742 and 1776. Interestingly, the first use of the term Widmanstatten figure in a scientific publication was by Schreibers who published a print of the Elbogen iron made by Alois Beck von Widmanstatten himself! This specimen weighs 8.9 grams and was expertly prepared by R. Kempton of the NEMS.

Chelyabinsk

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 21:32:48 -0700

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

Perfect pea from the spectacular Russian fall that took place on Feb 15, 2013. 1.568 grams ex Rob Elliott Collection. This individual has some nice flowlines and evidence of stable flight.

Best yet

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 23:11:54 -0800

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

This is my current best personal artifact find. It's a quartzite archaic piece with a bifurcated base.

Thumbscraper

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 21:05:34 -0800

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

An interesting little flint scraper that I found at a remote mountain site.

Virginia Projectile Points

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 20:45:52 -0800

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

Some of the points I have found in the past few months. Bedford, Franklin and Roanoke county material. Archaic to woodland.

Notched point

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 20:59:37 -0800

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

One of my recent Franklin Co. field finds, this notched point is made of chalcedony.

Triangle

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 01:23:09 -0700

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

Took one more trip to the field site but didn't find as much this time around. However, I did spot this cool little triangle that is likely a Caraway point.

Field Finds

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:13:25 -0700

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

Went on another artifact hunt today and found these pieces. Since I can't afford to purchase many new meteorites, I am spending more time looking for projectile points. This part of Virginia has a rich Native American history dating all the way back to paleo times!

SW Virginia Archaic

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 18:00:22 -0700

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

Went on an artifact hunting trip this week and recovered these pieces from a late-archaic site in the mountains. These pieces are all between 3,000-5,000 years old and are typical for this area. Quartz and quartzite are the most commonly seen lithics in SW Virginia and the projectile points tend to be somewhat crude because quartz is a difficult material to work. The darker quartzite piece is a Savannah river type and the quartz piece to the right of it is a Guilford. Finding an ancient Indian artifact that hasn't been touched for thousands of years is a real thrill!

Happy Blue Moon 2012!

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 21:00:18 -0700

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

Just a simple afocal projection snapshot that I took of the full moon tonight. I would say that this is the most difficult phase to image due to the extreme brightness.

Indochinite Tektite

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 19:50:22 -0700

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

This little specimen caught my eye while I was browsing in a small museum gift shop yesterday. Chinese tektites like this one are actually quite common and they have reportedly been collected in China since about 950 AD. Interestingly, the included description for this specimen referenced an outdated theory of lunar origin for tektite formation. Today, the vast majority of people in the scientific community believe that tektites were created during impact events here on earth. But I guess it's a lot more exciting to think that you just purchased a "moon rock" for $2 at a gift shop!

Sikhote Alin

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 19:35:17 -0700

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

This 121 gram individual has been in my collection for a couple of years now, and it has some nice flowlines and regmaglypts.

Sikhote-Alin

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 20:04:13 -0700

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

One of the greatest witnessed falls in human history, the Sikhote Alin event took place on February 12, 1947, in the Ussuri valley of Eastern Siberia. A massive fireball preceded the violent impact into the taiga below. The iron mass devastated a large section of the forest and created multiple craters. Meteorites recovered in the strewnfield included both individuals with signs of atmospheric ablation as well as shrapnel pieces from explosive fragmentation. This shrapnel specimen weighs 440.0 grams and retains it's natural patina. It is my largest iron meteorite specimen at this time. Ex A Langheinrich.

Gebel Kamil

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 18:50:51 -0700

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

Thousands of pieces of shrapnel were found in the vicinity of a well-formed, 45 meter diameter crater in the East Uweinat Desert, Egypt in 2009. This iron meteorite has distinctive pitting features. 14.8g.

Gebel Kamil

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 18:50:30 -0700

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

This iron meteorite is an ungrouped ataxite. The originial mass was large enough to form a crater on impact and it exploded into thousands of shrapnel-like fragments. The largest specimen found weighs ~83 kgs and it is covered in deep regmaglypts.

Trinitite

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:28:25 -0700

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

This material was produced by the first atomic bomb detonated on July 16, 1945, in the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The intense heat from the blast caused the sand to melt into this greenish substance comprised of silica with traces of olivine and feldspar. Although trinitie is radioactive, the amount of harmful radiation emitted is negligible after decades of decay. This specimen weighs 8.1 grams and has a good surface to weight ratio. It is slightly larger than most pieces on the market today. Ex Schoolers.

Australite Tektite

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:45:07 -0700

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

This is a portion of a "flanged button" tektite from the Australasian strewn field. These tektites possess a very aerodynamic shape and were created during re-entry through the atmosphere. The impact event that created these tektites is estimated to have occurred around 770,000 years ago. Complete flanged buttons are quite rare and expensive.

Australite Tektite

nobody@flickr.com (jtaylor14368) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:44:55 -0700

jtaylor14368 posted a photo:

Leading face of this partial flanged button. This is my first tektite specimen.