Amateur Fossil Digging

[Robby Raccoon]

Oooh, I love fossils! All I have to say is to bring a couple buckets and a small set of tools--chisel, hammer, hand-held pick-axe, small shovel-- to split rocks. Look for sandstone, dolomite, and limestone with many layers and be sure to open any that seemed cracked. You tend to get an impression of the fossil on both sides of the rock. Be careful, of course, to not hit it too hard lest you shatter it to puzzle-pieces. Bring water to drink, too! Too many people get heat-stroke when they don't think it's even super hot. If you're looking for special pieces, then any animal--like large shells or insects or whatnot-- and leafy plants are in demand.

 

[2find4me]

This article has been brought to my attention, what do you guys think about it?http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/north-florida-arrowhead-sting-whats-the-point/2159379

 

[Plumbata]

Very nice! When I lived in Maryland, I used to hunt the Chesapeake (and streams cutting through the Miocene to Cretaceous deposits), and found gobs of nifty fossils. Eyeballing alone can be very productive in little-known areas, but locations which are well-known require digging and sifting to find the goods. I never tried it, but I bet one could use a probe to search for buried zones of larger gravels/rocks, which would also hold respectable teeth and possibly a Megalodon or two. My favorite teeth were from the "Cow Shark":

and the "Snaggletooth" hemipristis shark:

 

[CanadianBottles]

If you're looking for special pieces, then any animal--like large shells or insects or whatnot-- and leafy plants are in demand.

Leafy plants are in demand, eh? (Ha ha, wow I really am Canadian). Back in my hometown I would wade across the river to an old mine tailing that had lots of leaf fossils all over the place. I stopped bringing them back because I had so many. Plus wading through a river with an armful of rocks isn't the easiest thing ever when the riverbed is all large slippery river rocks. I'm sure there's still hundreds to be found if you do a bit of digging out there though, just a matter of transporting them back.

 

[glass man]

My cousin lived in Colorado on an ARMY POST n 1969 or so..he dug p and found many many fossils there..he told me he put them all in a metal container and buried them..it would be great to go back there if we could ..find them with a metal detector! Of course I doubt the ARMY BASE WOULD LET US ON WITH ONE!!

 

[2find4me]

Went back to the Big River again,and did some water skiing/knee boarding. After a while, I swam to a sand bar to look around few a few minutes before we left. Found mostly pottery, but all I looked was on the surface of the sand.

 

[MuddyMO]

Florida is full of fossils, the most common being shark teeth, clams, horse teeth, and whale eardrums. Saber tooth tigers, giant sloths, and giant camels also roamed Florida. Perhaps also mammoths (i forget)? Warm mineral springs yielded some remarkable finds, including st the time, the oldest dated human being.

VenIce beach is full of sharks teeth, no joke on their claim to sharks tooth capital of the world! On the south end, there is the jetty (Intercoastal Waterway), and in the waterway out to the gulf, are typically flocks of hammerhead sharks. Scary! In this area, in the huge rocks and in the depths, the largest of the megalodon teeth are found. From experience, there's a million things in this area that will hurt you! Beware of urchins!

Indian pottery shards are frequently found on the top of the ground, usually by bays and low tide areas. Shell drills are a frequent find. Morally and legally, it is not allowed to pick up or disturb any of the mentioned. Having been around it, honestly, it's not even worth taking home! At Fort Desoto, it's not uncommon to see a plethora of artifacts and fossils alOngside each other.

 

[Robby Raccoon]

Sounds like Heaven for fossil-hunters.

 

[sandchip]

This article has been brought to my attention, what do you guys think about it?http://www.tampabay.com/f...hats-the-point/2159379

Just what I was going to mention. The powers that be in Florida have been quoted as wishing to end collecting altogether. For now, as long as you are hunting for fossils, you're okay, but be caught with so much as a broken scraper on the rivers, you in a heap o' trouble. FWC officers are out watching. Y'all might also be interested in knowing that there are resolutions before the UN that also would outlaw the collecting of ANY antiquity worldwide. Muddy is right, it ain't worth it, although I would disagree that it is morally wrong to pick up Indian artifacts. 99% of artifacts were tools used in everyday living and survival, not in ceremonies or burials. It's no different from saying that after I'm dead and gone that my handsaw, utility knife and drill bits are sacred items. And I might add, I do not condone violating burials in any manner. Unfortunately, we all have been lumped by the media into the same category as looters, pothunters, and destroyers of our nation's history. No joking, they put us in the same class as crackheads and metal thieves.

 

[MuddyMO]

Morally wrong on preserves, monuments, state parks. These places were put in place to protect and preserve. But if you find these relics elsewhere, then yippee!

Agreed, most of us who will find and dig these relics have an interest in preserving history!