Dinosaur Excavation and Taphonomic Research Project

        Experience    Progress
 
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Experience Recovered Fossils   Yearly Cumulative  
 

Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be.    
Kahlil Gibran




Progress



The fossils recovered and cataloged each year range in size from large femora to tiny teeth.

Except for small unidentified bone fragments and short tendons, each is assigned an HRS field number which becomes its permanent identification.

  north quarry



Progress during a season can be illustrated by the cumulative daily totals.

 Fossils Recovered
 
 Cumulative Daily Totals
 
n
u
m
b
e
r
 2400
2200
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
 SSMTWHFSSMTWHFSSMTWHFSSMTW
 day


   2013 (2256)    2015 (1267)    2016 (1226)    2017 (1736)    2018 (1797)    2019 (2252)

2013 is the record year with 2256


Another measure of the progress during a season is the cumulative number of specimens catalogued by the end of each week's work.

 Week 1Week 2Week 3Season
2004308     
+308       
491     
+183       
727     
+236       
883     
+156       
   2005 *   755     
 
2006194     
+194       
621     
+427       
982     
+361       
1182     
+200       
2007237     
+237       
569     
+332       
919     
+350       
1038     
+119       
2008248     
+248       
587     
+339       
837     
+250       
959     
+122       
2009249     
+249       
712     
+463       
1037     
+325       
1233     
+196       
2010349     
+349       
614     
+265       
975     
+361       
1185     
+210       
2011491     
+491       
1210     
+719       
1647     
+437       
1965     
+318       
2012368     
+368       
1043     
+675       
1435     
+392       
1633     
+198       
2013487     
+487       
1222     
+735       
1874     
+652       
2256     
+382       
2014208     
+208       
737     
+529       
1023     
+286       
1148     
+125       
2015325     
+325       
836     
+511       
1121     
+285       
1267     
+146       
   2016 194     
+194       
436     
+242       
955     
+519       
1226     
+271       
2017344     
+344       
859     
+515       
1481     
+622       
1736     
+255       
2018370     
+370       
1011     
+641       
1385     
+374       
1797     
+412       
2019562     
+562       
1323     
+761       
1995     
+672       
2252     
+257       
averages328.9
+328.9
818.1
+489.1
1226.2
+408.1
1407.2
+181.0

  *   weekly data not recorded
     season total is for the end of the regular expedition season—an additional 42 recovered after the group left for a total 1268

averages do not include weeks with zero bones recorded


Prior to 2004 the first week of the season was only a part week and the work in the quarries extend into the first days of the fifth week—weekly totals are therefore not comparable.

The week data are the totals at the end of work on Friday except for Season which is Wednesday evening or Thursday morning when all the quarries are closed—this number is also the total for the season.

Of course, these numbers do not take into account the number of participants in each week, off-days that may vary from year to year, inclement weather, etc.


Another measure is the productivity for each participant.

 bones
recovered
participant
days
ratio
 
2001  721  
2002  992  
20031002  413 2.43
2004  883  587 1.50
2005  755  617 1.22
20061182  806 1.47
20071038  686 1.51
2008  959  793 1.21
20091233  760 1.62
20101185  882 1.34
20111965  996 1.97
20121633  795 2.05
20132256  831 2.71
20141148  630 1.82
20151267  993 1.28
20161268  792 1.60
20171736  1096 1.58
20181797  1315 1.37
20192252  1345 1.67
 
 totals   25629 †14337 1.64

      bones total includes all years including 1995–2000, total ratio calculated only on years with both data


The participant days is the total number of days participants were on-site. It is not corrected for "days off"—Friday afternoons, field trip days, or Saturdays. The ratio is the average number of fossils recovered each day by a participant.

It should be kept in mind that this is still not necessarily the best measure of productivity. It does correct for different number of participants in different years, but does not take into account "days off" due to other activities or inclement weather. It does not account for different thresholds for size of tendons and bone fragments to be recorded and recovered in different years.


And finally, to compare to previous seasons, the year totals  in order  are:

 yearbones
recovered
  120132256
  220192252
  320111965
  420181797
  520171736
  620121633
  720161268
  820151267
  920091233
1020101185
1120061182
1220141148
 
 yearbones
recovered
1320071038
1420031002
152002  992
162008  959
172004  883
182005  755
192001  721
202000  222
211997    72
221999    55
231998      8


 

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