The Detective’s DeskSuri Reed
Museum registrar
What happened from your point of view?
A specimen with that repair left our loan cabinet last month.
What should I check to test that account?
Dorian signed for the loan.
HARD · CASE FILE
The Fossil from the Wrong Layer
Hard · A small excavation camp
A dramatic fossil discovery wins a grant recommendation. Test whether its claimed layer, specimen and discovery photograph belong together.
Read the case file below, or open the interactive desk to examine records, keep notes and submit your reasoning. These are the case materials, without the solution.
The scene
The supplied reports explain each scientific observation. You need only compare identities, dates and custody; no geology knowledge is required.
People and accounts
Dorian Cole
Field leader
What happened from your point of view?
The fossil was uncovered in undisturbed layer C.
What should I check to test that account?
Its discovery photograph proves the position.
Noor Moss
Site surveyor
What happened from your point of view?
Layer C had already been fully mapped and sealed.
What should I check to test that account?
A later cut enters it from the modern surface.
Eli Bell
Camp photographer
What happened from your point of view?
I photographed it after it was placed for a reconstruction.
What should I check to test that account?
I marked the full frame as a reconstruction.
Mina Hart
Student excavator
What happened from your point of view?
I found the wrapped specimen where Dorian told me to clear.
What should I check to test that account?
The soil around the wrapping looked freshly loose.
Case records
Read each record on its own terms. A claim made by a person is different from a fact established by an independent record.
Case record · Records tent
Field leader’s submission
Dorian certifies “unborrowed specimen in untouched C, photographed at first exposure” after receiving the full frame and section note.
Case record · Trench
Student’s task message
Dorian instructs Mina to clear the marked loose pocket. Mina is not told about the museum loan or ordered to certify layer integrity.
Case record · Finds tent
Specimen comparison
The claimed discovery has F6’s exact repaired fork and notch. It is the same loaned specimen, not a newly identified look-alike.
Case record · Records tent
Surveyor’s rejected correction
Before submission Noor sends Dorian the later-cut finding. Dorian replies to omit it so the grant panel will not question the discovery.
Case record · Records tent
Registrar’s retained delivery
F6 is handed only to Dorian and has not been officially returned; no other camp member signs custody.
Case record · Records tent
Museum loan identifier
Specimen F6 has a unique repaired fork and accession notch. Dorian signs for F6 as a modern teaching loan before the dig.
Case record · Photo tent
Full discovery photograph
The uncropped frame contains Eli’s “reconstruction after lifting” card. The submitted crop omits it and does not record first discovery.
Case record · Trench
Layer section report
The specimen pocket is a later cut from the surface into mapped layer C. The supplied section drawing distinguishes the cut from undisturbed layer soil.
Questions to resolve
Who knowingly certifies the planted discovery?
What is the claimed discovery actually identified as?
What does the uncropped image document?
Who is established as knowingly helping fabricate the provenance?
Use the interactive case desk to select your finding and cite the records that support it. The answer is checked there, and your progress stays in your browser.
Build your finding
Compare the records with each account. Work out what the evidence establishes, then separate that finding from anything it does not prove.