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Hello, I’ve recently been starting fossil hunting excursions at the last place I’d ever imagine — a parking lot. Put simply, there’s some piles of rocks near a big store around Champaign, IL, and in them I’ve found fossils. However, the rocks did not come from there, and because I’m anything but an expert geologist, I have no clue what rock I’m working with, what formation they came from, or in general what to expect. My guess is that it’s Silurian Dolomite but I’d appreciate some secondhand opinions, and nonetheless I’m still unsure of what particular formation the rocks belong to. Here are some of my finds: A bunch of brachiopods, and what looks like an external mold of a crinoid stem, I'm guessing. A few more brachiopods i’ve found as well. This is the usual stuff I find, just lots of brachiopods and (I think?) the occasional bivalve. Oh, there’s also this thing. I’m guessing some weird type of brachiopod but I’m not 100% confident, any IDs would be cool. Anywho, if y’all can figure out where these come from, is there anything else I can find in that formation/in these rocks? And if so, is there any sort of specific techniques/strategies i can use to know which rocks will bear fossils? Because some, like the first image, would be chock-full of them, but many would have only one fossil in them, and most wouldn’t have any at all. (Oh btw, I should note that these are pretty big rocks, like 6-10 cubic inches) Furthermore, are there any rarer fossils i could find (trilobites?? ;-;), and are there ways to find em as well, or is this just gonna be a matter of smashing open rocks till you’re lucky?? Oh, and lastly, whatever kind of rock I'm dealing with, it’s very hard. If I want to crack a rock open, I kinda just smash it with my sledgehammer; but I'm not really able to get precise cuts into the rocks with it, so I wonder if maybe there are times when I’ll crack open a rock, think there are no fossils in it, but in reality i just didn’t crack the right part of the rock open. Is there a way to know? Or a way to crack open the rocks more precisely? (I also have two pickaxes and some chisels, but the pickaxes are much worse at working with rocks, and honestly I’m too scared of breaking my hand with the chisel if i miss my hammer). Sorry if this is a lot, and kind of all over the place. I just have a lot of questions and a lot of inexperience. Thank you so much for any help!

I have several stromatolites that I've found in Knox county TN. They've only been found one 1 other location in Tennessee, by a boat ramp in Claiborne county. These aren't near a body of water, they're setting on top of very damp, moss covered ground. Claiborne county is about 45 miles north.

I have found these on a friend's property. They're everywhere.

I found this bizarre (to me at least) rock in a creek in Floyd County, Kentucky. The dark area of the rock is very resistant to scratching with metal tools. The lighter part feels and acts like an extra hard sandstone. Recent flooding may have pushed it down stream. No factories. I find it interesting how it looks like an old melted clump or rotten fruit turned to stone. Just curious as to what kind of rock this might be so that I can research how it is formed. Thanks in advance!

Found this in a customer's rock garden. They had a couple truckloads of the most random assortment of rock sizes, shapes and colors I've ever seen. I apologize that there are no clues based on it's location. All the rocks in my 'hello from Oklahoma' intro were all found in the same place. They rock itself is approx. 2¼ in. long x 1¾ in. wide x ½ in. tall. The marking isn't an indentation but the 'medium' -for lack of a better description- seems organic. If it is human-made, I'd be curious to know how. The markings are so precise as to be human-made but also seem completely natural. I've not attempted to clean it, except for a damp thumb rub or 2, but it doesn't seem like it would budge. I've shown it to probably a dozen people (none of whom were rock or fossil enthusiasts) and no one has a clue. I can't wait to see what y'all think. If I'm lucky enough for this to catch someone's eye. Please let me know if I can answer anything or post other picture etc. I can't thank you enough in advance. Have a great day.

Is this a natural rock, what exactly is it?

Found in the Bad lands of New Mexico, specifically in The Bisti Wilderness... Near many sandstone formations/hoodoos - a friend mentioned it might be a shaman stone - however the pattern on it seems more unique than a shaman stone. Another person suggested petrified firewood. It's heavy. And yet another person said it might be poo. You can see a VIDEO of it here - http://instagram.com/p/nYW01ECvvJ/ I washed it off recently and on the side where it looks like there's a bit of white-ish coloring - i noticed a bit of sparkly crystal. I don't know if I should break it open or not... Thanks for all your input and help!