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So there was some talk about my recent needle preps and this Archimedes is on the same stone as the broken pygidium. The first photo is where it started. The others are where I currently am with it. I'm prepping at 30X zoom with sharpened sewing needles and hypodermic needles. It is a long process. But I can get some fine detail in the prep. I have 7 needles. Sharpened sewing needles. 1 wedge shape 1 four sided 2 cone shape Hypodermic 18 gauge 22 gauge 32 gauge 20220722_174254.jpg 20220722_174150.jpg

Tammy and I made our first post-pandemic roadtrip and we went to Chicago to see family. Decided to drive as I was not yet comfortable with airports and airplanes. I had hoped to visit a site in southern Illinois where blastoids used to be plentiful and easy to find. Sadly, that site was mistreated and is no longer available. Members here on the forum suggested several alternatives which should produce the blastoids that I longed to hunt for. We found that the large (and well known) roadcut just north of Sulphur, Indiana was along the route (kind of) on our return trip and so it was added to the itinerary. We drove down from a last lunch in Chicago's Chinatown and crossed Indiana to check into a hotel in a small town just west of Louisville, Kentucky. The plan was to drive west to visit this Chesterian (Late Mississippian) site and see what we could find. We got up early, refueled, and had a quick breakfast since we planned on returning to the hotel and cleaning-up before the 11am checkout time. The morning proved to be much more overcast than the preceding evening. Things weren't looking promising as we were getting out to the site. You can see in the photos that the sky did not show promise of cooperating with us and the pelting rain along the highway was less than encouraging. The rain had slowed to a light drizzle and we arrived at the roadcut which provided nice wide shoulders to pull off the road a safe distance. Tammy decided she'd let me do the scouting and see if it was worth leaving the dry warmth of the car and so she stayed behind with her tablet to entertain her while I made good use of my raincoat. It took a while to find a good access point to climb up the first and lowest wall of this stepped roadcut. I walked most of the way down the road only to see the wall get taller and less accessible. I crossed over the road and walked back the way I had come till I found an opening. The rock face would have been easier to scale had it not all become quite slick from the rain. Once up on the first terrace level I walked along till I spotted a means of climbing up another level. I was headed up to the loose talus slope between the second and third levels. Along the way I spotted what I believe might be the Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina)--the shell patterns seem to be quite variable on this species but I'm sure @Tidgy's Dad could confirm or refute. When I finally started seeing crinoid stem segments and a number of small rugose corals I knew I had found the level I was looking for. It didn't take too long to spot the first blastoid looking like a pentagonally symmetrical marble. Most of the little Pentremites sp. blastoids were in the pea to garbanzo size range. Many of them were loose but a few were still attached to a chunk of the matrix. I spotted a little piece of the matrix that looked to be peppered with a bunch of semi-articulated plates from what I'm guessing is a crinoid calyx. This needs further inspection with the aid of some magnification. I took some in situ shots of my finds as I figured I'd probably write a post on this site. I selected a number of the nicer finds and upon review of the images I noticed that had missed things that I could clearly see in the images. I was so focused on developing the blastoid search image (rounded items with the pentagonally V-notched edge on the top) that I forgot that the Archimedes screw shaped bryozoans were also here. You can clearly see an Archimedes screw bryozoan actually touching the blastoid I picked up--talk about tunnel vision. https://www.uky.edu/KGS/fossils/fossil-month-09-2018-Archimedes.php The clouds were starting to break up and a little increase in light levels was welcome to aid the search. I could just barely see the car where Tammy was through the dense trees that cover this roadcut. I had tried to call her to let her know I hadn't fallen on my noggin yet but our cell phone reception was pretty poor here. Made a mental note to bring along some inexpensive walkie-talkie radios if we ever find ourselves split up and trying to communicate where cell phone coverage is poor. The rain had made the clay on the talus slope very soft and slippery. I spent a lot of time with multiple points of contact to the ground--holding on with both hands usually to avoid possibly losing my footing. Having my head held close to the ground in order to see the small blastoids obviously works better if you scan the area slowly. I knew I had limited time here and was searching somewhat quickly but I'm surprised that I missed this second blastoid just a hand-width away from the one on top that I did collect. It's also quite obvious (now) that I missed this other Archimedes that is nearly touching the blastoid underneath. At least I was getting pretty good at spotting even the tiniest of the blastoid specimens. I found a larger blastoid that had been flattened a bit and I spotted the first brachiopod. It was odd to see the brachiopods being so relatively rare as they were always so common at the few Devonian sites I'd hunted. I finally remembered that there were Archimedes at this site but only after I spotted this one. There is no telling how many more I missed. My time was running out and I was looking for one last find of the day before quitting and then trying to find a path back down (you never remember the path up as it looks different from above). Going down is usually more dangerous than up and so I spent extra effort looking for descents that wouldn't land me in the ER. Happily, the last find of the day was one of the largest of the blastoids. That seemed to put a cap on this 45 minute excursion into the Mississippian (my first fossil hunt from this geologic age). From up on top you can see the interchange with route 64 heading back to Lexington which is the route we took to arrive later that day in Asheville, North Carolina to visit friends we haven't see in 2 years. It was a fun little excursion and signs that a longer hunt would be even more productive. The fossil-bearing layer is about 2/3 the way up to the top of the slope. I spotted some better access points on the way back down and if I ever get back to this locality I hope to explore with with many more hours of time to dedicate to the hunt. Cheers. -Ken

Firstly, a big THANK YOU to @Jeffrey P for hanging out with me for the day! What a knowledgeable, generous, and all around swell guy! If you ever get the opportunity to hunt with Jeff, I highly encourage you to. Jeff and I met at around 8:30 am, and after a quick transfer of his gear to my truck, we were off. We first drove about 45 minutes south to the small town of Wax, to hunt the Upper Mississippian. Specifically to look for blastoids and crinoid calyxes that were known to be found in the area. As it happens, luck was with us! Unfortunately, I didn't take the field pictures that I typically do. Due to the fact that I went swimming with my phone a month or so ago . I am down to using my wife's old phone that I found in the junk drawer (Yes Jeff, it's pink... ). I didn't take it out much to avoid the inevitable drop down the hill side. Especially since it doesn't even have a protective case... Jeff snapped a few pictures. Maybe he will chime in and add them when he is able. For the first few minutes we didn't find much besides crinoid stems, bryozoans, and the deflated or crushed brachiopods common to the site. The main species of brach found in the area doesn't seem to have fared well during the fossilization process. Finding a nice inflated one is a rarity. After a few minutes of adjusting our eyes to spot the small finds located here, we started to pick out the blastoids. Jeff was the first to find one, and gifted it to me as he had already collected a few on his previous trips here. Thanks Jeff for gifting me my first blastoid! Most of the blastoids, while small, were whole and nicely preserved. Here are a few examples. I did happen to find the largest blastoid from the site, and one of the larger ones Jeff had seen from here. Super pumped about this one! Crinoid calyx were also to be found here. We only found a few, but being that these were also a first for me, I was extremely excited to find them! The brachiopods I previously mentioned were abundant, and besides crinoid stems, were the most abundant fossil to be found here. Again, they are almost always deflated. Finding a nice inflated one would be a real treat. These other little Spirifer(?) brachiopods could also be found. Although they were more uncommon that the previous ones. They are very small and delicate. Often crumbling when trying to pick them up. Bivalves could be found here also, but were extremely rare. Jeff was excited to find a couple, but I struck out. Other things that could be found were crinoid stems, the odd solitary rugose coral, and of course the ever present bryozoans. We then headed to a site a few miles down the road in Leitchfield. Stay tuned!

Big Hill (KY) geology and fossil expedition 11-2-2019 video link Kentucky Academy of Science Saturday afternoon activity: Quartz infilling identified by Dr. Frank Ettensohn, expedition host Stylolites identified by Dr. Frank Ettensohn Archimedes bryozoan identified by Mr. Daniel J. Phelps Mr. Phelps describes crinoid, brachiopod (Composita) and modern isopods=pill bugs or rolly pollies Crinoid stem columnals described by Darrell Barnes in rock detritus collection site (Mark Montgomery interacts) Dr. Frank Ettensohn identifies the spine of a crinoid by Darrell Barnes

Ever since I was youngster I've been fascinated with paleontology. I always thought thought the act of going out and hunting for fossils was far fetched... That I would spend hours and hours of searching and come back with nothing. Recently however I did some research on the topic and discovered that oceanic fossils are actually quit abundant and easy to find. After stumbling upon this new information I quickly purchased a rock pick and cold tempered chisel and gathered all the equipment I would need for my first fossil hunt - something I'd dreamed of for as long as I can remember. Last week my father and I set out to explore an area near Fenton which I heard was filled with loads of fossils and I must say that it was the most fun I've had in a long time. While my goal of finding a trilobite was a bust we found a lot of other cool stuff in an area of exposed rock along the Merremac river. Among the things were found were plenty of crinoids, brachiopods, horn coral, and bryozoa, a well preserved Archimedes screw, and, my personal favorite, a perfectly preserved gastropod (snail shell) about 1 inch in diameter. I also chiseled out a perfect spherical concretion which, as I understand, is essentially a fossilized meteor. There are also some rounder shaped things... I have no clue what they are. If anyone has any tips on how to clean up these fossils to make them look more presentable than they already are, please share (for I am clueless on how to do such things). Also if anyone has some recommendations on great place to hunt in the St. Louis area I'd like to hear them. I hear the Fern Glenn site is pretty good so I might try that next. On a side note... This fossil hunting... It's like an addiction... Now that I've had my first hunt I need more! I'm craving more fossil hunts! If I don't go another one soon I think I'm going to go crazy! -Jake

I'd heard this location had blastoids, which I've never seen before, so last Friday me and a friend headed down there. We arrived around 930 or so and were immediately stuck by the steepness of the cut "we have to go up this?". We got up near the top where the really productive layer is and immediately started finding blastoids, archimedes, and small horn corals. Most blastoids were in the 1/2" range, I found one archimedes that is around 6" in a slab. Buddy found one blastoid that is probably over 1". The horn corals are generally small. Lots of crinoid bits and pieces also. We took a break for lunch and when we returned we had company. On the west side there was now a man and his son. We hit the east side but it wasn't very productive. Dropped back down and the man & son were gone, but now there was an older lady with 3 young boys. We crossed over and said hi. They were looking for fossils on the very bottom layer, which is hard limestone and not very productive. The boys got very excited when they saw my rock pick and boots. I gave them some of the duplicates of everything I had picked up earlier. I told them the good stuff was up there. Things evolved and me and my buddy wound up taking the two older boys up the road cut to hunt. The boys were very polite, calling us "sir" the whole time. We spent around 30 minutes up high, with them finding several examples on their own. I ended up giving them my bottle of water because they were dried out. I was identifying what they were finding or debunking psuedofossils (lots of those when you're 10/13) the whole time. They eventually asked me if I was a scientist. Eventually grandma yelled up that it was time to go, so we had to get down. I think all the grown-ups were much more concerned about it than the kids. The 13 year old scrabbled down 3 steep 4' shelves in no time. But I slowed down the 10 yeard old, I was afraid he was going to fall. I ended up getting below him and lifting him down each shelf. He actually told me I was really nice. Overall a fun trip, if a bit short. It was made more enjoyable by getting to help stir an interest in science in some youngsters.

What a interesting start to May, 45 and rainy in Alabama!!! In fact rainy is an understatement, it rained hard for about 12 hours straight. Decided I was going stir crazy in the house and would risk being wet and cold and went out fossil hunting. It was well worth it, found lots of great things but--I feel strange saying this--bryozoans ruled the day (Archimedes specifically). For those that have hunted these interesting things, you know that these things are usually not very long unless in matrix. To be honest these were no longer intact either, but they were exposed in the shale from the heavy rain overnight and had yet to scatter. Here they are...

From the Fort Payne Chert (Mississippian) of northern Alabama, here's what I think to be an Archimedes bryozoan in cross section. Scale is in centimeters. Am I correct? Can you suggest a more specific identification? I was unfortunately unable to collect this one, as it was in a fairly large rock, but I know where to find it next time. Thanks in advance for your consideration. EDIT: I was wrong, this is from the Monteagle Limestone (also Mississippian).