Our firm started in Livingston, near Edinburgh, Scotland in 1983. Stan Wood's discoveries have given the firm an international reputation. So far they have amounted to numerous fossil plants and over 30 new species of animals, including the world famous "Lizzie"- the oldest reptile ever discovered! This is a proud record of discovery, a process we are constantly engaged in. At first Stan Wood supplied museums with fossils for research and display, then in 1988 the firm opened a shop, allowing public access to our Scottish fossils and to fossils from all over the world- the shop is situated in the Grassmarket, at the centre of Edinburgh's historic Old Town.
A fossil is any evidence of ancient life, this can mean anything from bone fragments to leaf impressions. Every fossil is unique because of the variation in living organisms and those of fossilisation. The odds against fossilisation are millions to one, although some animals and plants increase their chance of being fossilised by living in certain places (eg. burrowing in sediment, living in large groups or living in certain areas of the sea). Even if they do become buried quickly after death the chemical and physical conditions as the sediment turns to rock may be too harsh to preserve fossils.
If after all this fossils are preserved, the rock containing them may remain many kilometres below the surface, not to be exposed for millions of years to come. It is for these reasons that fossils are relatively rare, but if the conditions are right for preservation fossils can be preserved in large numbers and in great detail.
The fossils that are available from our shop have required careful preparation, it is this preparation that separates the fossils that we sell from those you may have picked up on a beach. Sometimes many hours or even days of painstaking work goes in to preparing a fossil. The layers of rock originally protecting the fossil have to be removed, often only with simple tools under a microscope, to expose the fossil. Sometimes the rock has to be cut to make the fossil more manageable or to show more detail, this is done using a diamond saw. Occasionally the fossils have to be treated, with a protective coating for example to protect them from humidity or prying fingers.
The length of time preparation takes and the expense depends upon how well the fossil is preserved, how delicate and how rare the fossil is. Many of our Scottish fossils for example have required extensive research, excavation and preparation and this is reflected in their appeal to, and acquisition by museums and collectors.
We hope you enjoy the fossils that we have to offer and that our shop provides a friendly setting for you to start to learn about the history contained in the rocks around us. Our mail- order service extends this to a wider audience, with we hope the same level of service.
Yours faithfully
Matthew Dale BSc (Hons) Geology and Applied Geology, PGD Museums Studies
SHOP MANAGER
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