Tambach-Dietharz (dpa/th) – At the Bromacker fossil deposit in the Thuringian Forest, people are digging again for primordial dinosaurs. In the next four weeks, an international team including geologists and paleontologists between Georgenthal and Tambach-Dietharz wants to dig up new finds from a time 290 million years ago, as the Friedenstein Castle Foundation announced on Monday at the start of the excavations.
At this year’s excavation, more than 40 scientists are documenting and researching the entire spectrum of the ecosystem of the time. According to the information, two deep wells are also planned on the Gallberg and on the Hainfelsen. There will also be guided tours at the excavation and drilling sites, where interested parties can look over the shoulders of the scientists.
The excavations at Bromacker were resumed after a decade in 2020. They are part of an interdisciplinary research project investigating the early evolution of terrestrial vertebrates. The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin – the Leibniz Institute for Evolutionary and Biodiversity Research, the Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein Gotha, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Unesco Global Geopark Thuringia Inselsberg-Drei Gleichen are working together. The research work, which will run until 2025, will be supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research with a total of six million euros.
The Bromacker is considered a globally significant fossil deposit. Over the past year, more than 200 boxes containing finds from the ursaurian resting place have been recovered.