Family Trip To Public Quarry

If you want to bring your owntools, it is sufficient for beginners to bring some cheap wood chissels (the stone is relatively soft) and a hammer each. The first time we brought our own tools, we brought two big hammers and two little hammers, the little hammers were meant for the children. Our smaller child made it clear to us that he of course needed the biggest hammer, his sister, logically the second biggest and us modest parents ended up with the children´s hammers.

It is also a good idea to bring some working gloves or gardening gloves which you can get at D.I.Y. stores for little money, as the stones have sharp edges. You might also need some elastoplast for the same reason.

An old rag, a magnifying glass and some glue are also useful. The latter is needed for mending any accidentally broken fossils.

Furthermore you will need a container in which to transport your finds, a sturdy basket with a handle for instance. Fossils are best wrapped in old newspaper.

Whenever I take the children out I find it useful to bring a damp, soapy flannel in a plastic bag. On excursions to the quarry I take two, to be on the safe side.

Old clothes and a sturdy pair of shoes are a good idea. A thin pair of trousers is easily ripped on the sharp stones.

Before embarking quarrywards (in dry weather), don´t forget to stick plenty of drinks and something to eat in your coolbox. The public quarry at Blumenberg is a sun trap and "quarrying" is hard work. There is now a kiosk immediately by the quarry, where snacks, drinks and ice cream are sold. Also, there are now toilet facilities available. However, there is now an entry charge, which is €5 for a family (in May 2002). One Sunday in autumn we had trouble finding a restaurant which was open and sold food.

How do I go about finding fossils ?

The Solenhofener Plattenkalk , that is the name of the stone, consists of many layers. Between these layers you can (sometimes) discover fossils.

The technique is to carefully split the stone into layers with the help of a chissel so as to find out what lies inbetween (or doesn´t). With a bit of patience it is certainly possible to find something.

Extracting bits of stone from the base of the quarry can prove quite tricky for children. Also the stone splitting process requires concentration. Therefore it can be helpful to look through the piles of "rubbish" cast aside by more experienced fossil hunters, who on the lookout for bigger trophies leave unexamined bits of stone as well as some smaller fossils behind.

What did we mostly find ?

• Dendrites
  Dendrites are no proper fossils, although they do look rather like plants, they are in fact of unorganic origin. They are therefore referred to as "pseudofossils". Dendrites are deposits of iron or manganese solutions, that are often found in the vicinity of fossils and can be very decorative.
  

• Hair Stars
  The hair star or sealily is the most common fossil of the " Solnhofener Plattenkalk". There are often quite a few to be found on one piece of stone.
  

• Ammonites
  These snail-like fossils are also fairly common. Some ammonites are so small, they are hard to identify, thus the magnifying glass, but there are also some huge ones around. So far we have only ever found small and medium sized ones.
  

• Bits of Fish
  You might, of course, find an entire fish, but so far, we have only ever once found a small fish. It's more common to find bits of fin.
  

The exciting thing about fossil hunting is that you never know what you might find in the next lump of rock. Maybe a fish or a little dinosaur, or nothing whatsoever. . .In any case it makes a great outing far away from TV and Pokémon. And it´s kind on the wallet as well.