New person asking questions

[swish513]

I'm trying to learn the "rules" of fossils. Such as, if you have one buried deep in rock, is it ok to dig it out yourself, or do you take it to someone to dig it out? What's the best way to store fossils? Is there a general labeling system that people use, or do you use your own? I'm just trying to get a feel for the DOs and DON'Ts of fossils.

[Spongy Joe]

Welcome, Swish, and it's great to see that you're wanting to be responsible in this wonderful hobby!

 

For preparing (the word used for exposing something covered in the matrix), there are entire sections of this forum devoted to it. Some people here are truly expert preparators, and others know when they have a prize specimen, and get a contact to do it for them (presumably at a price, but whether that's in money, fossils or favours I have no idea!). I'm certainly not an expert, but I'm pretty handy with an engraving chisel (works well in mudstones, but wouldn't do the job for limestones!), although my aim is to expose the scientific importance rather than make something aesthetically pleasing. So, it's your choice, and I'd strongly recommend having a go yourself. But: practice (a lot) on unimportant fossils, because to begin with, you will destroy lots of them! And be prepared to spend a lot of time on it. Some of the biggest prep jobs you'll see on here take literally years.

 

Storage: depends on the material. Some general rules: keep the environment as constant as possible (changes in humidity can destroy some fossils), keep them all stable and not in contact (rocks really do scratch each other, so have them carefully positioned or padded), and make sure you can find what you're looking for!

 

Labelling: everyone has their own, but as long as you have one, that's fine. The standard is to have a permanent number unobtrusively (on the back) of the specimen, referenced to a catalogue. That can be as complicated or as sophisticated as you like, and it depends largely on what you're collecting, and how many you have!

 

Others will have lots more to say, but that's a start...

 

 

 

[swish513]

23 minutes ago, Spongy Joe said:

For preparing (the word used for exposing something covered in the matrix), there are entire sections of this forum devoted to it.

 

 

Thank you for the beginning advice! I haven't discovered all the sections of this site, as there are a lot of sections. I will get there, thanks for your patience.

[Bone guy]

Welcome swish, and welcome to the wonderful world of fossils!  Yeah if you just read around this site for a while you will learn tons. Plus we'd love to answer questions.  

[ynot]

Preparation methods are dependant on the fossil and can be as simple as removing matrix (rock) with a pin vice or dental pick, or can be very complex and require sophisticated tools like air abraiders

 

For labeling, make sure You have as much location information as possible.

[Ludwigia]

Welcome to the forum. You're off to a good start just by asking the right questions. You'll learn a lot already by exploring the different sections here.

[Miocene_Mason]

I often say I want to “get the right label on something” on the ID forum, but I mostly utilize mental labels especially for things I’ve found. I remember where I’ve found my fossils and what they are pretty well typically so I needn’t label them. But as previously said, to each his own.

Many fossils are damaged by water, well all are if you leave them out long enough. So just be cognizant of that. If you do leave them out and they get wet because you know they can withstand a bit of moisture, just take them inside in the winter because frozen water expands. Then again, you can use this method to split shales or other rocks cleanly theoretically. 

Good luck!

[erose]

No hard and fast rules other than making sure you are actually legally collecting, which basically means always having permission to be wherever you are. But there are plenty of road cuts and streams and other well known places to go.

 

I will emphasize labelling. But not necessarily for ID, but more importantly location. I am impressed that WhodamanHD can remember everything about all of his specimens. I sure can't. If you want your collection to have some scientific value keep really good notes for where you found them and include a label or code with that info.

 

As you get into the hobby you will see so many different ways to do all this stuff and meet folks who collect for totally different reasons.  All are good.

 

Welcome to paleontology and the Forum

[Kosmoceras]

I will echo the importance of labelling - particularly locality and formation data. It’s all well and good remembering where you found your specimens, but ultimately they are going to outlast us as individuals, so without this information documented it’s going to be lost.

[Peat Burns]

On 5/19/2018 at 11:33 AM, erose said:

I will emphasize labelling. But not necessarily for ID, but more importantly location. I am impressed that WhodamanHD can remember everything about all of his specimens. I sure can't. If you want your collection to have some scientific value keep really good notes for where you found them and include a label or code with that info.

 

23 hours ago, Kosmoceras said:

I will echo the importance of labelling - particularly locality and formation data. It’s all well and good remembering where you found your specimens, but ultimately they are going to outlast us as individuals, so without this information documented it’s going to be lost.

An emphatic +1.  Accurate labelling with location, formation, etc., is the difference between a valuable fossil collection and one that is essentially worthless...