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Hot take: My backyard dig turned up a cool fossil

I was planting some flowers and hit a weird looking rock with my shovel. It has these spiral patterns that make me think it's an ammonite fossil. What's a safe way to get the dirt off without hurting it?
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3 Comments
caseybutler
That's so cool, is it an ammonite? Found a small one in my garden last year. Used a soft toothbrush and water, worked okay.
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brown.jenny
My dad tried cleaning a fossil once with a wire brush. He thought it was just a weird rock in the concrete of our old patio. Took off half the detail before he realized it was actually something. We just have a smooth stone patch now.
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mila_murray
The soft toothbrush idea is smart... my uncle did the wire brush thing too and it just made me sad for the lost detail.
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