Search the Community

I wondered if anyone might be able to help with this oddity. It's about 4-5 cm long, and was found on the beach at Wells-Next-the-Sea in North Norfolk, UK. Exciting dinosaur brain? Mundane piece of flint? Put me out of my misery, please!

Hullo everyone. This was picked up on a beach in East Ruston, Norfolk, UK. The parent rock is flint, I think, as is most of the rock on that beach. The rock carries a textured feature in a hollow. I didn't have anything other than that 18mm (~3/4 inch) 5p coin for scale. The feature appears to be mineral. It can be chipped out with a blade and the fragments are gritty. It's probably humdrum but I'd like to understand what I've found so thanks to everyone for looking.

Hello, I was fossil hunting today at along the beach cliffs at Hunstanton, West Norfolk, England. Found lot of belemnites and wheels in the cliff rocks, but also found this which to me and my boyfriend looked like a bone of some sorts in the rock? We have only just started getting into fossils so any guidance as to identify this would be appreciated, even if it turns out just to be a cool shaped rock. thanks

Hi all, I was hoping for some help with this. Is it a fossil? It’s quite worn so I’m not expecting a detailed ID but some suggestions would be fantastic. I found it at Hunstanton which is chalk or Cretaceous age. I’ve also found lots of brachiopods and echinoids at this locality.

Fossil hunting in the shed like many of us - I thought I'd lost this nice globular rhynchonellid in a house move years ago. From the top Campanian/bottom Maastrichtian Chalk of Norfolk, UK. I think it's Cretirhynchia sp.

Hi, just going through some rocks I brought back from Norfolk, UK, thinking quite a few may be fossils (I didn't have long so just grabbed anything I thought looked suspiciously organic by intuition) and as it turns out I think I was quite correct in a number of cases - I think I have quite a few pieces of whale and and a few little bits of mammoth tooth. Trying to confirm this to myself led to a lot of reading and learning online about the local geological formations involved and also whale anatomy, both new topics for me which I always enjoy delving into - part of the enjoyment of fossil hunting for me - I'm less of someone looking for beautiful specimens for display (though I'm not going to turn those down!) and more someone who loves the detective work of trying to identify obscure parts and recreate some aspect of the vanished world before us from its traces. And searching through whale anatomy and what these weird chunks could be I came across a picture of a whale periotic and realised that the weird little pot structure I had was almost definitely one of these, which if I am correct is good because I believe they are one part of a fragmented whale anatomy that is quite diagnostic. Also I then realised that a strangely hooked piece I found right next to it could well be the tympanic! The preservation here is unusual because many theorise that these kind of whale fossils were first laid down in sandstone in the Miocene when Norfolk was covered with a shallow warm sea, and then later in the Pliocene and early Pleistocene when temperatures dropped sea levels dropped too and the area became land (part of the reason the geology of this area is interesting is the constant transgression and regression of the sea over a few million years), these Miocene rocks were eroded away and the harder fossils reworked into new estuarine or nearshore sediments of this era, often but not always with a layer of hard iron-rich concretion coating them which helped protect them (I guess one question would be, is there anyway of easily removing this hard concretion layer?) So if I am right, these are bones from Miocene whales (many showing signs of shark damage), reburied in the Pliocene / Early Pleistocene and then finally eroded out again in the modern day - quite a journey! Anyway, enough background, for starters I'd love to see what people think about this periotic / tympanic. Am I right? Here's a summary of my findings (note I used a pic of dolphin periotic someone posted here for comparison so I hope that isn't too cheeky)

Hi, this one was found fallen off of the cliffs of Hunstanton, UK It looks to be some kind of fin? I could be wrong though The rock is 5cm long at its longest point and the fossil about 1.5cm shorter Hoping to hear back about it!

Hi, my sister found this on the beach of Hunstanton, Norfolk last year whilst on holiday We are unsure on what it is, but we think it may be an imprint of some kind of anemone or coral, not sure though The whole rock is concave and about 4.5cm across I will attach a close up of the pattern in the replies

Hi, i know this may be a long shot, but i found this fossil in the cliffs of Hunstanton, Norfolk, UK It is in a red stone, and was originally in a much larger boulder Any ideas as to what it could belong to would be greatly helpful The rock is about 9cm at its longest point, and the fossil is roughly 7cm as it goes into the rock, and would be longer if not broken.

Hey, not sure I’m posting in the correct manner but any help ID’ing would be gratefully received! Also I’m aware it may not be a fossil. Found in a remote area in Breckland Norfolk UK, next to a bomb hole (which are common here) so could have been thrown up in an explosion? The photos don’t seem to capture the depth but it looks like a paw print? Cheers all

Headed up to Walcott in Norfolk Saturday just gone, got there nice and early to beat the crowds, luckily the cold weather had put a lot of people off! Anyway, walked off towards Happisburgh and headed down below the sea defences, was soon finding small pieces of bone but nothing of any major interest, when suddenly i spotted it, up against the sea wall, standing out like a sore thumb, a tooth fragment! I quickly grabbed my prize and gazed in awe at it. I have travelled many miles searching for one of these and now i held one in my hands. I stowed my price in my bag and continued on my way, skipping along the beach until i reached the next groyne, walking up to the corner where you are able to pull yourself up the wall i froze. In front of me, laying on the sand, another one, bigger, better and mine. I couldn't believe it, two in one day! Pure ecstasy filled my veins. The markings on this one were incredible. I continued down to Happisburgh with my bag now considerably heavier (for once). Upon reaching it i could see a lot of other people searching the beach there so i decided to walk back the way i came but search on the tide line now as it was nearly dead low. i walked and waded down the beach until i got to around the halfway mark, i was on the phone at the time to a friend telling him about my day (gloating) and i wasn't really paying much attention so much so i nearly stood on it, looking down, with waves washing over it was another, this one was half buried in the sand so i dug it out like a madman and soon held my prize, this one had been rolled by the waves more so and had been worn down a bit. I carefully packed this one away and walked back to my car. I met a few other hunters on the way with kids who were most impressed by my finds. Now i have no idea of species on these, other than the fragment and second one being Mammoth and someone suggested the last one could be a straight tusked elephant, if anyone could expand my knowledge that would be great! This is my super serious fossil hunting face. It may surprise you but i am filled with joy inside. Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Hi everyone, A friend has asked me to post this rather beautiful mystery rock for ID, it was found by a friend of his on the Norfolk Coast UK. Unfortunately that's all the info I have on it with regards to find locality. My friend is thinking its biological in origin but I'm pretty convinced its something geological, it reminded me of cross bedding in sandstones and I came across some diagrams of cross trough bedding that seem to show an identical pattern but I cant seem to find any good photos of real examples. Any suggestions much appreciated! Regards, Sam

Hi Everyone found this on the beach at Happisburgh Norfolk is it a fossil of some kind or is it just a weird looking rock. It looks like clay but it’s a rock it’s it’s heavy like a stone of same size. Thanks for your help mart

Hi All I found this at a beach in Norfolk, UK. It looks like a tooth with a broken tip but I may just be hoping lol. It was dug from the bottom of some cliffs where a mammoth was found in the 90s I believe. Any help would be great. Thanks

Please give me good news. My son and I went fossil hunting at West Runton beach today and came away with what look like belenmites. Apparently I’m not great at fossil hunting in new locations on my own since these were the only things I came away with (and a mud clump of shells that need some serious stabilizing), and West Runton is supposedly full of all kinds of fossils! Anyway, can someone confirm that these are, in fact, belenmites so I don’t feel completely defeated again (or tell me they aren’t so I can hang my head in shame).

The tide tables for the Bank Holiday weekend suggested we should perhaps make a return visit to Beltinge to search for more sharks teeth, but the weather forecast put us off; predicted onshore winds would probably hold the water in the estuary preventing the best parts of the beach from being uncovered. So, having been offered the use of a caravan on the north Norfolk coast, we decided a change of scene would be interesting and looked forward to the challenge of a new beach to search. East Runton and West Runton beaches are famous for their geology and wealth of fossils. Rocks from the Cretaceous onwards are present and a wide variety of finds can be made if conditions are favourable. Several recent postings on social media showed some lovely mammoth teeth and other bones had been found, probably brought ashore by the strong north-easterly winds during the winter and early spring. Due to other commitments we didn't arrive until late on Sunday night. The following morning we were greeted by bright sunshine but there was no rush to get down to the beach as the tide wasn't due to uncover the foreshore until late morning. After a leisurely breakfast we headed down to the beach. Unfortunately for most of the holidaymakers, the northerly breeze had brought thick fog off the sea and it clung to the coast, turning the conditions decidedly cold and damp - not good for making sandcastles and having picnics, but fine for fossil hunting! The majority of the morning visitors had abandoned the beach and we had the place pretty much to ourselves. Looking east towards Cromer. Not much sign of spring bank holiday visitors!

Hello all. I believe this a form of sponge but I'm not sure. It was found on the Norfolk coast, UK. Any help appreciated, thanks

Now back from a collecting trip to Norfolk, I have much to do. I have several fossils in need of prep and many need IDs to make. Not forgetting to wash down the tent and put away the camping gear. But luckily, I still have a bit of time to post on the forum. We went to two different locations, both beaches on the north coast of Norfolk. One was Overstrand, the other East/west Runton. You can find similar things at both, mammal bones, echinoids, belemnites etc. Overstrand did not seem to yield so many finds but East and West Runton was unbelievable. The day after arrival, we drove to Runton and found free parking, with only a quick walk to the beach. Once there, I looked along the cliff quickly, finding nothing, but then as the tide was out, I went down to the shingle and the chalk exposure. Within minutes of getting down to the beach, belemnites started turning up everywhere. Some of them were small sections, others large, robust ones. The ones which had the end point in tact were the most treasured. Within half an hour I had a huge bag full. The whole day was spent on the beach picking up belemnites, and the occasional echinoid and sponge. The next day, we went a little further up the coast, to Overstrand, but there was not much to be found. I found a belemnite and some sponges, but not much else, so we gave up and drove to Runton again, where there was much to be found. Again we had a day of millions of belemnites. This time I went up to the cliff nearing the end of the day and I met some people also looking for fossils, they had not found anything, so I showed them what to look for. I moved on, and dug in some fallen clay. I was very lucky finding some shells, wood and even some mammal bones. It had been another great day hunting. The last full day before going home was not very fossil related. We saw some wild seals at Horsey, but I did manage to find some fossil wood on the beach at the same time. There were thousands of seals on the beach, colony after colony, each having around 200 seals in. We were very lucky as sometimes there are not any at all. On the way back we stopped off in a fossil show where I got some copal, a mammal bone from the surrounding area and some rare worm fossils from the isle of Sheppey in Kent, UK. On the day we came home, we had a quick hours hunting at Runton again. We found several hundred belemnites, which was very pleasing. Now that you know roughly what happened, I will post the fossil pictures. Starting with some random ones, next I will post the Overstrand finds, then I will end with Runton. Hope you enjoy it!