Jacketing a fossil

We found a really nice fish specimen at our site and so, since it is so delicate, it's going to get a jacket!

Step 1: Remove the overburden with a jackhammer and an angle grinder, a diamond blade makes the grinder a mini rock saw! Notice all the safety equipment, even though it is hot, it is better to be well protected in this remote region.

Step 2: Cover the fossil with wet paper towel for protection and then take strips of burlap and roll them up into "bandages" in plaster of paris. We then lay these strips over the fossil creating a jacket that is, for all intents and purposes, the same as a cast that you or I would get over a broken bone.

Step 3: Cut around the fossil and pop it out of the surrounding rock. repeat for the underside creating a nice solid jacket for the fossil! When this plaster sets up (dries) it will form a solid cast or jacket around the fossil and will protect it while it is transported.