Hunting for Fossils

One of the first things you want to do is find out what fossils are in your area. Your location is very important.

Before you start, you should always get permission if you are hunting on private land, such as national parks. It is illegal to hammer any rocks in these areas. In order go fossil hunting, you need to dress appropriately. Take the climate and the terrain in consideration. If you are hunting for small fossils, you should have hiking boot or walking shoes, hard hats for falling rocks, a chisel, a hammer, wrapping materials (for when you find something), safety glasses, gloves for sharp rocks and any other basic equipment. It would also be a good idea to have a bag to carry all the equipment in.

Fossil are in sedimentary rocks, like claystones, shale, limestone, and sandstone. They have the best environment to preserve the once living animal or plant. You should practice breaking rocks before you get started. Claystone breaks differently than limestone, and shale will break differently than sandstone. When breaking the stones, you need to be very careful not to break the fossil. This is not hard to do. Hunting for shark teeth at the local public beach is an easy way to get started on fossil hunting. If you live in North America, you may also want to hunt for petrified wood.

There are hundreds of thousands of fossils in the world. Fossil hunting is great for the whole family to do.