Working in Egyptian archaeology is spectacularly dull, in my opinion, but every now and again things crop up that make it worthwhile. In my world, these are generally fossils or rocks, i.e. things non-archaeological. Much of Cairo is associated with limestone formations, the Maadi and Mokattam, which yield all sorts of fauna. Beloved of the archaeologists who work here – except the terminally blinkered, of course – are the teeth of what we hilariously call ‘wadi sharks’.
Our faunal analyst says these are derived from the family Carcharinidae, in which we find most modern sharks, including the majority of the ‘dangerous-when- provoked’ species. I never knew there were weasel and requiem sharks. This short post also gives me an opportunity to mention a site definitely in the ‘wow, I never knew I needed this site’ category. FishBase is a searchable database of fish rather than anything to do with soup. Handy.
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where can I buy some? I would like to start a collection of interesting fossils for my son and the stark teeth are high on the list…especially if there are some megalodon’s teeth.
Hmm, I don’t know, Dibo. A quick googling will probably throw up all manner of dealers, although I’d suggest you go for a proven and reputable company rather than just buying them off Ebay. The law differs from country to country in its approach to trafficking of palaeontological objects, so I’d try and find someone with the right to sell them. I imagine there’s no shortage of these objects, but always best to check their provenance.