[Message relayed from David Campbell, who is having some difficulty with email]

> Let's return to that general concept of "fossil": Old. Altered. BURIED.
> Context is important in archaeology; it is just as important in
> paleontology. A seashell buried in loose sand on the beach is not likely to
> be a fossil.

Email situation prevents my emailing the list, but it might be worth
noting that some beaches (e.g. Myrtle) are dumping fossiliferous sand onto
the beach, so that the shells there are likely to be fossil.  Also,
some beaches naturally get a lot of fossils washing up (near river
mouths, usually).  In the case of material from the Keys, much of the
Pleistocene is already lithified, so the specimen is probably not a local
fossil.  However, if it came in as road material or someone collected and
then abandoned it, there are plenty of sites in mainland Florida with
fossil Chione in unconsolidated sediment.  Perhaps the most confusing
situation in that regard that I have encountered was the Calabash, N.C.
marina with Waccamaw (upper Pliocene to Plio-Pleistocene boundary)
fossils.  After being very productive for a while during excavation, the
marina was flooded.  Some years later it was drained for further work.
The Pliocene fauna was supplemented with modern Chione, Busycon, etc.


David C.