Southern Illinois Roadcut Yields a Wealth of Fossils

Many fossil locations require a long hike into the forest, or an exhausting trip across the desert, or extensive travels into the wilderness. BUT NOT THIS ONE.
Join us as we explore a rich fossil site that sits a few feet off of State Road 146, about 5 miles east of Anna, Illinois. Crinoids, Blastoids, Archimedes screws, and more await even the casual collector:

Google Maps locator for this location: https://www.google.com/maps/place/37%C2%B026'50.4%22N+89%C2%B008'15.6%22W/@37.4473354,-89.138757,375m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d37.4473333!4d-89.1376667

You can clean limestone fossils (Calcium-based) with weak solutions of acid (Vinegar), but be careful. The acid will dissolve (not only the matrix) but also the fossil itself. To halt the action of the acid, add small amounts of Baking Soda until the fizzing stops, then soak the fossils overnight in fresh water. If your fossils are silica-based (quartz) then you can use stronger acids (Muriatic) to dissolve away the surrounding matrix, since silica is impervious to most acids.