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Title
Ancient Colorado; Triceratops Swamp
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Artist
Jan Vriesen and Kirk Johnson
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Location
Colorado Convention Center
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Neighborhood
Central Business District
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Year
2005
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Artwork Type
Acrylic Paintings
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Material
acrylic
What People Are Saying
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10 people say Photogenic
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4 people say Hidden Gem
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3 people say Thought Provoking
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3 people say Love it
About This Piece
Triceratops Swamp
Marshall Mesa
68 million years ago
Three-horned dinosaurs aptly called Triceratops foraged in Colorado swamps during the Cretaceous Period. Similar swamps exist today along the U.S. Gulf Coast—minus the dinosaurs. The first known Triceratops fossil was discovered in a creek bank in downtown Denver in the late 1880s, with many more found over time.
The Laramie Formation lies 500 feet beneath the Colorado Convention Center. It rises to the surface near Boulder, where it is exposed at Marshall Mesa. The remains of Cretaceous swamp forests form into deposits of underground coal, which was once mined at several Boulder-area locations.