Search the Community

Hello, there are (purported) pyritised trilobites from the Alnif area of Morocco on the market. They are in the same grey (limestone) matrix like the usual black ones. Pyritised fossils may occur in black shales and were formed under anoxic, hydrogen sulphide-rich conditions. An example for them are the pyritised trilobites from the Hunsrueck shales from Germany. So I wonder whether pyritised trilobites can occur in the same grey limestones which usually yield the dark-grey, black or brownish trilobites which show no signs of any pyritisation. I show here as an example Metacanthina from the Alnif area, but there are also some other species with this purported sort of preservation on the market. My question: are they real or are the fakes? If so, are they faked completely, or is only the "pyritisation" faked? There are some traces of "golden colour" on the matrix of the specimen I show here (e.g., close to the glabella). This makes me think about the possibility that (possibly true) "normal" trilobites were artificially covered by a stain that gives the impression of being pyritised, or treated with a soft brass brush? Thanks, araucaria1959