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As the title states, I have a few questions regarding the burn test. We hunt glacial deposits in eastern Kansas, and find many bones, some obviously not fossil (we chuck these) and some that are definitely fossil. I do understand that the river tends to darken bones, and give the appearance of fossil. However, we have found several bones that have the right color to be fossil, are exceptionally heavy for their size, and 'feel' right to be a fossil. Strangely though, when I do the burn test on them, they will not char or burn but give off a more subtle 'burnt hair' smell. Of course, on definite non-fossil bones, they smell badly and tend to usually char/burn. SO, my question: Is the burn test a definite decider on whether a bone is fossil or not? I have heard of Bison Latifrons bones not passing the burn test, yet they are without question 'fossils'. Also, I know it doesn't really apply to this, but I have also heard of collagen being preserved even in dinosaur bones; at least in small amounts. Could some collagen be preserved in some of our bones? So, is the burn test definitive? Or should I toss bones that char and burn, but ones that smell but do not burn, keep? Hopefully y'all understand what I'm getting at here. Thank you so much in advance

Hello everyone, I noticed a sweet smell coming from my ice age mammoth fossils. Any idea what it may be? Thanks, Jay

Hello: I can't seem to find to much info through google on this, and I wanted to see if any of you knew, so I don't destroy my rock. I have some rocks that I found, but they have been stored underneath the house, in boxes and other various methods. I know want to display some of them, but before, I want to get rid of this musty/earthy smell that they have. What's the best way to go about this? Most of the rocks are porous to some degree.