Petrological Collections
The petrological collection contains a large variety of over 15,000 samples and is sub-divided into a petrographic collection with thin sections, a meteorite collection, an economic geology collection, a UK regional geology collection and an ornamental building stone collection.
The petrological collection goes back to the early foundation years of the University of Bristol when Geology was first taught. Many of the samples were originally gathered to build up a comprehensive teaching and exam collection, which was an integral part of the geology course. In more recent decades, research material from field based projects in the UK and around the world entered the collection and built up a vast reserve collection.
Meteorite Collection
Meteorites have fascinated humans for thousands of years. Here our chosmochemist Tim Gregory and Collections Manager Claudia Hildebrandt restore an iron meteorite from our University of Bristol Earth Sciences collection and talk you through the history and science of this famous meteorite from South America.
Mineral Collection
The mineralogical collection includes over 5000 exquisite examples of gemstones, ores and beautiful crystals from UK and international localities. The majority was collected by scientists, collectors or mineral dealers in the 18th and 19th century from mines and quarries long since closed.
The mineral collection covers some of the main historic mining areas in the UK. The majority of the samples were collected and donated in the first half of the 20th century. Main collectors include Prof. F. C. Phillips, Prof. D. Dineley, L. L. Fermor, C. Alabaster and C. E. Leese.
Access our user friendly catalogue of mineral specimens.
Fossil Collection
The palaeontological collection contains over 60,000 fossils of which over 1600 have been cited or figured in scientific publications. Many of the fossils are of national and international importance and date back to the 18th and 19th century.
Explore and view some of our type specimens in 2D and 3D via the GB3D project page
Named Collections:
- The Bristol Dinosaur
Thecodontosaurus material and associated microvertebrate fossils from Durdham Down and Tytherington.
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A collection of mainly Rhaetic microvertebrate fossils from localities around SW England. An associated archive of field and lab notebooks, photographs, maps and reprints is available. This collection has been the subject of some detailed research projects recently by undergraduates, which have been completed with a series of publications.
- Bob Savage Collection
A collection of mammal remains from Libya and Kenya. Associated archive of notebooks, photos, drawings, maps and reprints available.
- Hinton Collection
Cenozoic invertebrate fossils from UK localities. Small archive of correspondence available.
- Tom Fry Collection
A large collection of invertebrate fossils and minerals collected and curated by Tom Fry. An archive of reprints and notebooks is available.
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Smilodon Collection – saber-toothed cat collection
- Where it was excavated (the famous La Brea Tar Pits).
- How it received some new ribs.
- How it fits into the evolution of cats.
Publications
The publication record of our collection goes back to the early foundation years of the University of Bristol when geology was first taught in 1876. The timeline below summarises the 150 scientific publications that cover over 1600 specimens. 230 of them are type specimens on which the description or name of a new species is based.