Public can view next step in dinosaur discovery The ten-dollar
word for it is "taphonomy," literally meaning the study of the
grave. But we'll call it Jurassic CSI - recreating the scene of
a dinosaur's death and burial that happened some 140 million
years ago. About 2,000 people got a glimpse of the first steps
of the process two weeks ago at the Gooseneck dinosaur dig near
Castle Dale. Now the College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum
is demonstrating the second phase of the investigation, which is
the laboratory preparation of the allosaurus fossils. Staff and
volunteers will be working on the newly-excavated bones in the
museum between 2 and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. They will
answer visitor questions and explain the process. On Tuesday,
Paleontology Lab Manager John Bird and Utah Friends of
Paleontology President Barbara Benson were patiently chipping
away at the rock surrounding the backbones recovered from the
Gooseneck site. It was pick and shovel work - dental picks, that
is, with small plastic