Bone Digging for Ancient Treasure

Long before the Coosa Indians fished for catfish or hunted deer along the banks of the Ashley; even before the now extinct mammoth foraged for food in the open fields of the low country, a terror of unimaginable proportions swam and hunted prey in the waters covering lands where now cities, such as Charleston, bustle and small communities like our own Flowertown in the Pines now serenely showcase azaleas and crape myrtles. The oceans' answer to T-Rex literally surged just feet above my own backyard. The illustration top right is artist Karen Carr's rendition, from the Virginia Museum of Natural History, of the mighty Carcharodon Megalodon chasing two juvenile whales. These creatures would feed on whales, porpoises and just about anything brave, foolish or just unlucky enough to share its fondness for the warm coastal areas of the continent.

To give you an example of just how large these by-gone creatures of the deep actually were,

check out this graph, courtesy of Wikipedia, on the right . The li'l green fellow is our old nemisis from the 70's, Jaws; the little guy in front of him would be the equivalent of Captain Quint, and the red giant lurking in the back would be the ancient history of my own backyard otherwise known as "Meg." Now there is much of so-called scientific "fact" that I must admit I roll my eyes to, and place in the "until a more accurate fact emerges" category, but I do know one thing; this creature existed, and that it lived where I now sit even as I write this blog. God left us proof, and gave us a mighty cool hobby in the process.

Now that you know how awesome these guys were, maybe I won't seem as much the geek, that

I probably am, when I share my enthusiasm for them. Nathan and I have logged hundreds of hours scouring excavations,

"bone digging" as we call it, for the ancient remnants of these giants. We've found dozens of different kinds of shark teeth, great white, mako, tiger, goblin, and occasionally, the elusive meg tooth. We also find whale vertebrae, stingray barbs, aligator teeth and even rare indian artifacts on a couple of outings. Above you can see Nathan digging for fossils at a site not far from the Ashley River.

It's such a thrill to find a tooth still partially covered knowing you're the first human to ever lay eyes then hands on it. Here's one I found a couple of weeks ago. You can see part of the root sticking out, and you just don't know how much of the tooth has been preserved until you excavate. In this case, the entire tooth was perfectly fossilized.

On the right is just a small sampling of the treasures we've unearthed. Nathan gets a first hand science education, with a little adventure to boot. He's even found some fossils valuable enough to earn him a little money for his efforts. I have a growing museum of natural history, and a healthy hobby for my efforts, but any sunny afternoon spent treasure hunting with my son is already treasure found.

Psalms 24:1 "The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein."

Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."