Kentucky Crinoids

Recently beheld some excellent large rocks in Jefferson County - not going to reveal where since I haven't harvested the best specimens yet - filled with all manner of fossilized prehistoric aquatic yummies, including molluscs, worms, coral, and (mostly) crinoids from the Ordovician period. Click on the images for larger versions.



As Wikipedia's Crinoid page notes, "Some thick limestone beds dating to the mid- to late-Paleozoic are almost entirely made up of disarticulated crinoid fragments." And that's what we have here. One may also note on their Ordovician Period page that most of the fossil examples shown from this period are from Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee. This area must be an Ordovician hot spot for some reason (as would be evidenced by the Falls of the Ohio's famous fossil beds).




The stems of these prehistoric Crinoids are actually a series of separate cell-like segments held together by tissue, nerves and ligaments which were threaded through the central hole. This material often rots away before the segments themselves, leaving a pile of tiny disarticulated discs. In Europe, these were actually collected and strung like beads, variously called "Fairy Money", "St Boniface's Pennies", "St. Cuthbert's Beads", and "Star Stones".

Falls City (the City)

Nationwide drinkers of Falls City Beer probably thought the stuff was named after Falls City, Nebraska or Falls City, Oregon, if they even gave much thought to it at all.

But Falls City is actually an old nickname of Louisville's, one which may seem confusing at first since, after all, Louisville doesn't have any waterfalls, right? And then it hits you, oh yeah, we do - the Falls of the Ohio.

The Falls of the Ohio is generally associated with the Indiana side of the river, mainly because they've (sort of) preserved the fossil beds on their side, and built a park and "Interpretive Center" museum celebrating it. Unfortunately, there's not much left to celebrate - the original falls has been nearly decimated by removal of most of its limestone by the city of Louisville in the late 19th/early 20th century. What was once a towering and grandiose waterfall is now a gentle step only a few feet high.

And the much-touted fossil beds have frankly become a bit of a pathetic joke. According to the official Falls of the Ohio website, "The 386-million-year-old fossil beds are among the largest naturally exposed Devonian fossil beds in the world." And yet, tourists are allowed to tromp all over them, there is essentially zero security to keep people from plucking the beds clean of fossils, and at any given time, the place is filled with garbage, driftwood, dead appliances, chemical drums and other debris. It's not a very pleasant place to be.