Henke quarry

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3D terrain model of the quarry
Iguanodon symbol on the way to the Henke quarry
Iguanodon site

The Henke quarry is located southwest of Nehden , a district of Brilon , in the Offenland nature reserve around Nehden . It is protected because of its findings from dinosaur bones. The quarry was bought by the city of Brilon and declared a paleontological ground monument. The excavation area is no longer accessible and has been filled in with overburden for protection. Display boards provide information about the location.

Quarry

In the quarry, which is located on the Brilon plateau , marble was mined until the end of the Second World War . It was not blown up but dismantled with chopping and shoveling so as not to reduce the quality of the marble. The Dassel company from Allagen sold the marble under the name Goldader . A memorial stone on the Kräuterhagen commemorates the marble quarrying.

Dinosaur finds

The area was near the coast of a shallow sea in the Cretaceous Period . The hilly landscape was criss-crossed by lakes and rivers, on the banks of which bald cypresses , giant tree ferns , sequoias and ferns grew. The dry higher-lying locations were populated by pines , ginkgo trees and araucarias . Presumably a warm and humid climate prevailed; some of the plants found can still be found in the tropics today. These very well-preserved plant finds allowed conclusions to be drawn about the climatic conditions; some of them were charred, which suggests forest fires. The affiliation of cones, pollen, needles and spores of various plants was determined with scanning electron microscope images. Fossil vertebrate bones were discovered in a nearby quarry in the 1980s . Because of their uniqueness, they were considered a sensation in scientific circles.

When mining mass lime and clay, workers exposed a clayey crevice filling. The finds were first interpreted as fossil woods; later it turned out to be a bone fragment. After further discoveries, it was clearly identified as the bones of a dinosaur. In subsequent scientific excavations, which took years to complete, several other fossil bones of dinosaurs, mostly of the Iguanodon genus , were found. These animals were pure herbivores; they could reach a length of up to 11 meters and weigh up to 4.5 tons. They lived about 100 million years ago. Up until this discovery, the iguanodonts were only identified by fossilized footprints found in northern Germany. Numerous individual bones, but also related skeletal parts, were found. About 1400 bones were found in Nehden, the recovery and preparation of which was associated with difficulties. In the explored clay deposits, remains of turtles, predatory dinosaurs and crocodiles as well as remains of insects and fish were found. Also noteworthy were the fragments of turtle bones. Some of the finds were researched in 1982 at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt am Main by Reinhold Huckriede and titled Die Unterkretazische Karsthöehlen-Fuellung von Nehden in Sauerland. 1. Geological, palaeozoological and palaeobotanical findings and dating published. In a further investigation in 1983, statements could be made about the type of vegetation during the lifetime of the Sauerier.

After extensive investigations, the realistic skeleton of a young animal was gradually reconstructed. Earlier Iguanodon replicas were based on only a few bone finds. The conclusions about the appearance of the animals were very vague, the models made often looked unnatural. Thanks to new scientific methods and the findings of the bones of the young dinosaur, a reconstruction that comes close to reality could be made in the preparation workshops of the Westphalian Museum of Natural History in Münster. Plaster casts were made of the bones found, the missing or incomplete limbs were replaced or supplemented. The finished model was assembled in the living position, with the strong tail as a balance organ when walking.

Some of the fossils found are shown in the Museum Haus Hövener in the geological history and dinosaurs department in Brilon-Nehden ; the other finds are kept in the collections of the Geological-Paleontological Institute and Museum of the University of Münster. Some pieces were loaned to the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt and the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover.

  • Fossil single bones

  • Skeleton replica

  • Connected skeletal fragments

  • Dinosaur bones

  • Dinosaur feet

Display boards and Iguanodon symbols from the association Dorfgemeinschaft Nehden 2013 mark the site today. The village community Nehden 2013  was supported by the city of Brilon, the NRW Foundation , LEADER funding of the EU and the associations Sepa Idem and the tourist office Nehden .

See also

literature

  • David B. Norman , Karl-Heinz Hilpert: The vertebrate fauna of Nehden (Sauerland), West Germany (=  geology and palaeontology in Westphalia, issue 8). Translated by Jutta Heinisch. Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe , 1987, ISBN 3-924590-11-7 .
  • Jutta Heinisch: The dinosaurs from Brilon-Nehden in the Sauerland (=  paleontology in Westphalia, issue 7). Published by the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe, Landesbildstelle Westfalen, 1990.
  • https://www.lwl.org/wmfn-download/Geologie_und_Palaeontologie_in_Westfalen/GuP_Heft_63_Seite_51-77.pdf
  • H. Kampmann (1983): Microfossils, woods, cones and plant remains from the sub-Cretaceous dinosaur pit near Brilon-Nehden. Contribution to the interpretation of the vegetation at the time of the chalk dinosaurs in Westphalia.-Geol. Paleont. Westf. 1: 146 p .; Muenster.
  • M. Schudack (1987): Charophyte flora and age of the lower Cretaceous karst cave filling of Nehden (NE-Sauerland) .- Geol. Paleont. Westf. 10: 7-44; Muenster.

Web links

Commons : Steinbruch Henke  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Inventory of geological ground monuments in Westphalia, reference number 4517 EB 1
  2. ↑ Jutta Heinisch: The dinosaurs from Brilon-Nehden in the Sauerland (=  paleontology in Westphalia, issue 7) Ed. LWL Landesbildstelle Westfalen, 1990 pp. 6-8.
  3. ↑ Report on the west on the fossil finds
  4. ↑ Briloner Heimatverein (ed.): Briloner Heimatbuch, Volume VI. P. 31.
  5. ↑ Information board in the dinosaur department in the city museum in Brilon
  6. ↑ Jutta Heinisch: The dinosaurs from Brilon-Nehden in the Sauerland (=  paleontology in Westphalia, issue 7). Ed. LWL Landesbildstelle Westfalen, 1990, p. 5.
  7. ↑ Jutta Heinisch: The dinosaurs from Brilon-Nehden in the Sauerland (=  paleontology in Westphalia, issue 7). Ed. LWL Landesbildstelle Westfalen, 1990 pp. 7–8.
  8. ↑ Reinhold Huckriede : The sub-Cretaceous karst cave filling of Nehden in the Sauerland. 1. Geological, palaeozoological and palaeobotanical findings and dating research results. In: Geologica et Palaeontologica, 16, 1982, pp. 183-242.
  9. ↑ Jutta Heinisch: The dinosaurs from Brilon-Nehden in the Sauerland (=  paleontology in Westphalia, issue 7). Ed. LWL Landesbildstelle Westfalen, 1990, pp. 21–23.
  10. ↑ Jutta Heinisch: The dinosaurs from Brilon-Nehden in the Sauerland (=  paleontology in Westphalia, issue 7). Ed. LWL Landesbildstelle Westfalen, 1990, p. 8.
  11. ↑ https://www.wp.de/staedte/altkreis-brilon/schautafeln-informieren-ueber-die-saurier-von-nehden-id8376601.html

Coordinates: 51 ° 26 ′ 3 ″  N , 8 ° 37 ′ 55 ″  E