Tags
calcareous rock, cephalopods, Erfoud, fossils, Morocco, trilobites
I’ve always been fascinated by fossils and would love to find a little something special (I’m hoping my move to the south Wales coast will help fulfil this dream as there are fossils, and even dinosaur bones, in nearby cliffs) so imagine my delight when we visited a fossil exhibition, museum, factory and shop during a tour of Morocco back in 2014.
We were near the town of Erfoud, in southern Morocco, an area which is now extremely arid but 500 million years ago was under the ocean. Some of the creatures that inhabited that ocean – in particular, the cephalopod molluscs and trilobite anthropods – became stranded in muddy lagoons that gradually dried out and, over time, the mud and creatures were transformed into a fine-grained calcareous rock containing the perfectly preserved fossilised creatures.
The museum-come-shop had some wonderful specimens on display and for sale, including large items like tables and lamp bases, wash basins and fountains. I couldn’t quite fit a table-top in my backpack but I did buy a couple of small trinkets, shown in the last photo included here. And if I do manage to find anything more local, I’ll definitely be posting about it!
Lovely – I like your choices!
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Thanks. 🙂
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I’ve been collecting fossils (here in Illinois) and buying fossils for many years! It’s a great hobby! 🙂
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Sounds like you’re a big fan, Tom. I’m just getting interested. 🙂
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Try to get down to Southerndown at low tide. There are some fantastic large fossils down there embedded into the limestone pavements on the beach.
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Not the easiest of places to get to on train and bus but I’ll get there eventually, I’m sure. Thanks for the heads up!
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There’s also the dinosaur footprints at Barry – https://paulchallinor.wordpress.com/2015/03/15/palaeontologists-for-the-day-but-dont-give-up-the-day-job/
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Thanks for that. The next fine day, I’m off to explore. I have seen footprints like that, of humans and animals, at Formby Sands on the coast north of Liverpool. Magic!
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These are wonderful, Annie! I hope you get to find your own fossils!
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Thanks, Pete. I have one already but I’m certainly hoping for more. 🙂
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These would look good in my fossil collection
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You have a fossil collection?
Morocco’s a great place to go for a holiday (with a side trip for fossils)!
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I have a modest collection. Otherwise known as “those dusty old rocks” in our house. I’d like to visit Morocco but Northern Africa is on my “not at this time” list – even for a seasoned traveler like me.
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I’m not sure I’d go to other north African countries at the moment but I’d have no worries going to Morocco.
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I’ll give you a shopping list next time you go. Trilobites it has to be
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