Natural History Museum Gram
The Natural History Museum in Gram houses the natural history part (thematic focus on paleontology ) of the exhibition at the Sønderjylland Museum.
history
The museum in Gram was opened in 1976 under the name "Midtsønderjyllands Museum". After the merger with the other South Jytland museums in 2006, it became a department for natural history and paleontology at Museum Sønderjylland. From 1976 to 2005 the museum was housed in the west wing of Grammer Castle. In 2005 the new museum building right next to the Grammer clay pit was opened. The pit was already used in 1667 for the extraction of clay for brick production. Industrial brick production began in 1857. In 1988 the mine was closed. The place Gram gives its name to the clay (Gram clay, chronostratigraphic : Gramium) from the geological period of the Upper Miocene .
exhibition
In particular, the museum shows fossils from the Grammer clay pit. The skeletons and limestone shells on display come from marine animals that were buried under sand and clay on the seabed after their death. At the beginning of the clay sediment formation process, the sea coast of that time was located in the far north of present-day Denmark (roughly on the line Viborg - Aalborg) around 11.5 million years ago and advanced far south and southwest over the course of the following 6 million years until After all, a good 5 million years ago the sea coast was roughly where the Danish-German border runs today. It was at this time that the youngest parts of the sediments found in the Gram pit emerged. These sediments (mica clay and silt) and the fossil content indicate that the sedimentation mainly took place in coastal waters with a depth of up to 100 meters and that the material was to a not inconsiderable part via rivers that flow from Scandinavia in the vicinity was transported to the area (today's Baltic Sea and its tributaries did not exist at that time).
Over the years, the museum has unearthed many fossils from the clay pit during its excavations. Particularly noteworthy are the numerous and well-preserved whale skeletons, through which the site achieved world fame from a paleontological point of view, as well as the teeth of various types of shark (including the legendary basking shark megalodon ), otoliths (fish ear stones), crabs, sea urchins, snails, mussels and many other sea creatures.
excavation
In the clay pit next to the museum, visitors can do their own excavations for a small fee. You then have the opportunity to examine the finds in the museum's own laboratory. The common finds can be taken home.
literature
- Steen Andersen & Steen Sjørring (Red.): Det nordlige Jylland (published as the third of five volumes in the Geologisk set series ) - 208 p., Numerous. Fig. And maps, Geografforlaget, Brenderup (DK) 1997 (2nd edition of the 1st edition).
Web links
Coordinates: 55 ° 18 ′ 27.5 ″ N , 9 ° 3 ′ 42.1 ″ E