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Agates
Scientific Name:  Quartz
Location:  The agates at Dig it! came specially from Brazil.
How Old: 40 million years old
Fun Facts: Most agates occur in cavities of eruptive rock or ancient lavas, the stone was given it name by the Opharastus, a Greek philosopher and naturalist who discovered the stone along the shore of the river Achates sometime between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC.

Amber
Scientific Name: Resin or Tree Sap
Location:  Along the shores of the Baltic Sea and Russia
How Old:  30-90 million years old
Fun Facts: Semi-Fossilized Resin or amber, sap from an ancient tree.

Amethyst
Location: The amethyst found at Dig it! comes from Brazil. It also can be found in other countries like Canada, America, Russia, Africa India, Namibia and Sri Lanka.
Fun Facts: Birthstone for February, it is also considered the astrological birthstone for Aquarius, Pisces and Sagittarius.  Amethyst is the anniversary gemstone for the 4th and 6th year of marriage. Some spiritualists believe the amethyst can heal addictions of all kinds, bring stability and peace, bolster courage and ease the pain and grief. 

Ammonites
Scientific Name:  Ammolite is also known as AAPOAK Kainah for “small crawling stone”
Location: The ammonites at Dig it! are found in Madagascar and Nigeria
How Old: Paleozoic and Mesozoic Eras anywhere from 400-465 million years old
Fun Facts: related to the squid, octopus, cuttlefish and the chambered nautilus

Brachiopods
Name: Lamp shells brachs or brachiopods they are the two shelled, marine animals
Scientific Name:  From the Latin Braccchium, Arm+ New Latin Poda feet are small phylum of Benthic invertebrates.
Location: United States
How Old: Paleozoic 543-248 Million years old
Fun Facts: On July 16, 1986 The Kentucky State Legislature Designated the Brachiopod to be the Kentucky State Fossil.

Citrine
Scientific Name: Citrine Fortz,
Location: India and Brazil
Fun Facts: In ancient times, citrine was carried as a protection against snake venom and evil thoughts. Citrine is one of three traditional birthstones for the month of November.

Coprolite
Name: “Dino Poop” “Trace Fossil”
Scientific Name: Coprolite is the scientific name for fossilized Dinosaur droppings
How Old: 140 million years old
Fun Facts: Chemical and Physical analysis of Coprolite can help answer questions such as: What did the dinosaur eat and drink? How did they eat and digest their food?

Dinosaur Bones
Scientific Name:  “Dinosaur Fossils” come from three Latin words: “Deion” meaning great, “saurus” meaning lizard and “fossils” meaning dug up.
Location: Utah
How Old: Dinosaur bones are at least 65 million years old, Triassic, 254-204 myo Jurassic 204-140 myo and Cretaceous 140-65 myo.
Fun Facts:  Maybe 10 or more feet in length for one bone, dinosaur in Greek means “Terrible Lizard” first bones discovered in 1882 in Sussex England by Gideon Mantell.

Fossil Fish
Scientific Name: The Fossil Fish at Dig it! are called Knightia
Location: Wyoming in the area known as the Green River Formation
How Old: 55-70 million years old
Fun Facts:  Dr. John Evans collected the first fish fossil from the Green River Formation in 1856

Geodes
Scientific Name:  Greek Geoides “earthlike”
Location:  The geodes come from all over the world ones at Dig it! come specifically from Brazil.
How Old: 40 million years old
Fun Facts: Iowa designated the Geode as the official sate rock and it has a Geode State Park. Geodes and geode slice are sometimes dyed with artificial color.

 

Laboradorite
Scientific Name: Feldspar (from the Greek “Oblique Fracture”
Location: Finland
Fun Facts: Composed of almost entirely of Plagioclase which is a major constituent mineral in the earth’s crust and consequently an important diagnostic tool in petrology for identifying the composition origin and evolution of igneous rock.

Mammal Vertebrae
Scientific Name: Backbones or spinal columns
Location:  all over the world
How Old:  Cambrian period 530 million years old

Petrified Wood
Scientific Name: Greek root “Peto” meaning “rock or stone” literally wood turned into stone.
Location: the specimens at Dig it! came from Brazil but can be found all over the world.
How Old: Triassic Period 200 million years old

Rhyolite
Name: Rain Forest Jasper
Scientific Name: Greek word “RHYX” which translates to stream of Lava
Location: Australia, Southwestern and western areas of the United States
Fun Facts: Physically, some claim rhyolite can be used for a range of things including sleep, cleansing the liver regeneration and even general healing.

Sand Dollar
Scientific name: Sand dollar in reference to their round flat shape
Location: Maine
Fun Facts: Children have been known to say that the sand dollars are pressed sand that has been dried or even the money of mermaids washed up from the deep.
How Old 12 Million years Old

Shark Teeth
Scientific Name: The shark teeth at Dig it! come from the Otodus Shark
Location: Morocco
How old: 40 million years old

Trilobites
Scientific Name: Ancient Arthropods
Location:  The Trilobites found at Dig it! come from Morocco and Utah
How old: 250 to 600 million years old
Fun facts:  the smallest known trilobite species is just under a millimeter long while the largest trilobite species is from 30 to over 70 CM in length (roughly one to two feet in length.