GEMSTONES
Anyone with an interest in dinotopia will surely have come across the curious archaeological material I shall be discussing today. And newcomers are in for a lesson: stalactites hang from the roofs of caves, stalagmites grow up from the floor, and coprolites are simply fossilised shit.
Coprolites are not the most popular source in archaeological research, but they sometimes yield quite entertaining data. I, for one, devoted an entire little chapter of my dissertation to analysing them. In brief, the story concerns traces of worm infestation found in human coprolites, but more about that another time.
Coprolites can tell science a great deal: about diet and the intensity of feeding, about the seasons and the movements of animals, about infections, epidemics, demographic indicators and so on. While gathering material for my work, I noticed something else: coprolites are rather well represented in popular culture.
They look almost like ordinary stones. But sometimes, if you cut them open, like your grandmother's beads. And, would you believe it, coprolites are quite often used to make decorative objects. So the next time colleagues present you with cufflinks of some semi-precious stone, do enquire whether it is not fossilised shit.
Dinosaur bones are a far greater rarity than their droppings. You understand, of fanciful shapes and sizes. Which makes special mention due to the girls who pose with coprolites in assorted American roadside museums, pressing them to their tits and mugs.
Incidentally, one researcher even had a whole table made of polished dinosaur coprolites.
