—-The Stones and Bones Collection—-
About Us
Created in 1989 by our founder, Richard Hightower, the Stones and Bones Collection has been collecting and providing fossils to museums, schools, and private collectors since its inception. In 1995, we launched our website and became the first retail provider on the internet, expanding our reach internationally for the first time. Since then, we have always remained in the top ten most visited fossil websites worldwide! We now travel across the country each year to various shows and events, bringing our inventory to you! But all of our available items can still be found online here on our site. With more than three decades in the Industry, the Hightowers decided to pass on the torch to a new owner, Avery Shumpert, who worked extensively alongside Richard and his wife, Janice for many years.
Starting out as a customer at the early age of 10, Avery and Richard quickly stepped into a mentor-mentee bond over their shared love of fossils. When it came time for Avery to attend college, he did so at Western Carolina University, just down the road from the Hightowers, allowing him lots of time to learn from the master, both in terms of the business and fossil preparation. This gave him the tools and experience to fully take on ownership of the company in late 2025. While now enjoying their retirement and taking well-deserved trips around the world, Richard remains with the company in an advisory role, helping to inform various decisions and provide a sense of continuity with our valued customers.
This company has been in operation for a long time, and thanks to our decades of experience and extensive contacts, customers can feel confident knowing that every item sold at Stones and Bones is completely authentic and verified. The preservation of fossils, education, and your satisfaction remain our top priorities! We are very proud of our strong reputation for quality, service, and fair prices within the fossil community and look forward to adding you to our Stones and Bones family.
Learning From the Masters
As mentioned above, Avery spent many years working alongside Richard and Janice Hightower at the many shows the company takes part in and the preparation workshop to hone his skills for working with the past. Below are some images where he and Richard worked on several Mammoth and Mastodon teeth they acquired from a quarry in West Texas, getting them cleaned and stabilized for display and sale.
Some of Our Trips and Adventures Over the Years
Dinosaur National Monument, Utah
As you’ll see below, Avery has loved fossils from a very early age, and one of his first big airline trips took the Shumpert family to Utah to explore the many museums and beautiful sights that part of the country has to offer. This was such a great trip, and made so many lasting memories that the family decided to return to some of those same places in 2023, now with the eyes of collectors and experts in the field. This led to some pretty great picture recreations, displaying a truly lifelong journey.
The Royal Tyrrell Museum, Alberta, Canada
Also in 2023, Avery and his mother, Gretchen, made the pilgrimage to the Royal Tyrrell Museum, one of, if not the finest, paleontological museums in the world. The museum was so awe-inspiring that we went through the entire thing five whole times over the course of 2 days. The museum is home to such wonders as Black Beauty, a fully articulated T. rex in the natural death curl position, and the world-famous borealpelta, which still has the skin in place across its armour, and the only Regaliceratops specimen yet to be discovered. This place is an absolute must for those who love prehistory as much as we do, and Banff National Park is just a few hours away from wildlife lovers as well.
Anstruther, Scotland
While on a trip to the UK and Lyme Regis, looking for fossilized ammonites along the Jurassic Coast, the Shumpert Family took a break to explore Scotland and visit some puffins on the Isle of May in Edinburgh Harbor. Having done research ahead of time, the pick up spot for the island ferry in Anstruther was just down the road from a bucket list item for Avery, and the opportunity couldn’t be missed. Along the beach, though worn down and faint from erosion, were the tracks of an Arthropleura, a 7-foot-long millipede from the Carboniferous Period that had been one of Avery’s favorites since watching the show Prehistoric Park as a child. Below you can see the tracks and some other Carboniferous fossils we found while hunting the Arthropleura.
Our Founders
For 30 years, beginning in 1995, before retiring in 2025, Richard and Janice Hightower were the founders, owners, and operators of The Stones and Bones Collection, a journey that took them to a lot of cool places over those three decades. Here are just some of the highlights of their many years of adventures.
Digging Dinosaurs in Montana
Each Summer, they spent several weeks in Wibaux County, Montana, walking the Badlands, enjoying the beautiful scenery, and looking for dinosaur bones. Over the years, they have added lots of their finds to the site for you guys to enjoy, a tradition that’s carried on by the new owner, Avery Shumpert. In this section is a photo of Janice and Richard on their first dig, working on Janice’s first dinosaur bone.
The Petrified Forest
In 2008, Janice and Richard took a trip to see the Petrified Forests of Arizona to see this incredible natural wonder for themselves. While this area is protected, meaning no finds were able to be collected, we have a wide array of connections with private access to similar quarries, so you can own your very own piece of Arizona Petrified Wood.
Coal Mine Fossils
In 2009, upon hearing of a significant find of Carboniferous fossils, Richard visited a coal mine in Eastern Kentucky to see the site for himself. He quickly discovered that working inside a coal mine is not for the faint of heart, but the payoff was well worth it as the specimens from inside the mine had incredible detail and sharp features. See below the entrance to the mine and the vehicle for entering the confined spaces.
