LACMA dig yields fossil trove

IN 1986, construction of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Japanese Pavilion was shut down for six weeks when excavation uncovered a major deposit of invertebrate fossils -- no surprise, given that the 23-acre Hancock Park property that includes LACMA and the county-owned Page Museum at La Brea Tar Pits contains one of the richest Ice Age fossil sites in North America.

Last summer, officials at LACMA and the Page Museum speculated as to whether similar discoveries might delay construction when LACMA began the first phase of its $145-million expansion. And sure enough, confirms LACMA President Melody Kanschat, since the museum began demolishing its parking structure in December, deposits containing all kinds of Ice Age goodies have been discovered. The prehistoric loot includes skulls from horses and saber-toothed cats, a mastodon tusk, mammoth tooth pieces, the complete shells of Western pond turtles and the remains of a golden eagle.

Kanschat says construction has been delayed by several weeks to allow for excavation of the finds. But the process -- overseen by Venice-based ArchaeoPaleo Resource Management Inc. -- has been speeded up by technology not available in 1986.

Robin Turner, owner of the company, says that instead of fossils being excavated individually, the core of the deposit is removed whole and placed in a huge box to await further exploration. In order to maintain the integrity of the archeological layering, air spaces are filled with an expandable foam before the deposit is removed.

“We build a box to the size of the fossil deposit, line it with plastic so it won’t ooze out the side walls and box it up like you would a tree,” says Turner.

Turner adds that the material will be the subject of study long after LACMA’s new construction is complete. “This is probably the most premier fossil deposit site we’ve had for a long time,” she says.

Diane Haithman