An unremarkable image

[davidedric]

Of, I think, a remarkable object. I'm not sure whether it really belongs here or in the Community Lounge, but anyway.

On our recent trip to Oz, our guide asked if we had heard of the Ediacaran fossils. Oh yes, I said (apparently that made me about one in a hundred). Would I like to see one? Certainly would!

To explain. These fossils were discovered in 1868 in the Ediacaran hills in South Australia, but were dismissed as artefacts because they were in rocks around 600 million years old, and this was thought to be too early for animal life. There was then a bit of a detective story until in the 1950's they were finally recognised for what they are (and have since been discovered elsewhere in the world). So the earliest evidence of multi cellular life ever found.

For me it was a real thrill to see and even touch one (remember the dinosaurs didn't come along for another 350 million years or so). Taking a photograph of the underside of a dark rock in bright sunshine was near impossible - so put it on wide angle and hope.

So here it is. As an image, distinctly unimpressive, but important to me. Dave

[Manfred M]

Dave - I find these places absolutely amazing. The sites themselves are probably uninteresting to many, but the importance of these fossil records to our understanding of how life on earth developed is something that I have always been interested in.

[Davejl]

Interesting shot Dave. In fact you don't need to travel to Oz to see Ediacaran fossils. The first fossil to be recognised as belonging to this geological time was discovered less than 10 miles from where I am now, by a pupil of my former school (before I was there). The holotype is in Leicester Museum:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charnia

Charnia certainly wasn't the first one to be found, but was the first which was found in a setting which proved these fossils to be of Precambrian age. Purely by coincidence, I saw it again this morning. There are others visible in situ in the location where I took my rubbishy polarizer shots the other day (Bradgate Park).

Dave

[madcrow]

Thanks for the story behind your image and if it's important to you, that all that matters.

[James G]

Dave, only unremarkable when you 'don't know'', just like a lot of other things.

I have a 'snapshot' of two somewhat decrepit roman columns about 4m apart in Brindisi. Nothing special about the capture or the picture itself, an old B&W image taken on an Ilford Sportsman 35 mm Camera in the 70's..... except they are the gateway to the port and point of departure from Rome World to Geece, Asia Minor and all points east in ancient times. There are not many places you can place yourself and know that the 'greats' of ancient and not quite so ancient history have actually stood there, in a very specific space, if only in passing. Something I find equally thrilling even to this day remembering I too stood there.

It is one of the great joys of having a camera.. perfect captures are a bonus !

[JBW]

the image has disappeared.... now it's visible