Amkhoi Fossil Park is a fossil park located near Illambazar in the

Birbhum Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other impor ...

District of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

, India. It contains fossilized wood 15 to 20 million years of age and is officially recognized by the State Forest Department of West Bengal. In 2016 while digging a pond the villagers of Amkhoi village, near

Ilambazar Ilambazar is a census town, with a police station, in Ilambazar CD block in Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal. A traditional weaving and trading centre it serves as a gateway to Birbhum district. History ...

, found some large bone-like structures. Later it was established that the bone-like structures were actually wood fossils. Fossilized or petrified wood is often considered as semi-precious ‘stones’ and often used in jewellery — fetching a good market value. As the word spread it attracted fossil hunters from far and wide. To prevent the vandalism and theft of fossils the forest department decided to convert the area into a fossil park. In 2017 - 18 the park came into existence and was called Amkhoi Wood Fossil Park. The aim of the park was to create awareness about fossils among students and common people, and also try to help scholars in their research. It is the only fossil park of

state and has an area of 10 hectares. The fossils are laid out in a manicured lawn surrounded by pathways separated by hedge walls. Bilingual boards narrate the details of not only the fossils, but also about the process of fossilization.

The fossils

The fossils displayed are trunk portions of

angiosperm Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

(flowering plants). the trees were originally part of a forest that thrived in the uplands of Rajmahal and Chotanagpur Hills. It is presumed that the trees were carried by floods and deposited under fine sand and clay, gradually transforming them into fossils. The fossils found here belong to

Dipterocarpaceae Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 16 genera and about 695 known species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus ''Dipterocarpus'', is derived from Greek (''di'' = two, ''pteron'' = wing and ''karpos'' = fru ...

Anacardiaceae The Anacardiaceae, commonly known as the cashew family or sumac family, are a family of flowering plants, including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of the Anacardiaceae bear fruits that are drupes and in some cases produce ...

, Combretacea and

Leguminosae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

families of plants.

Visiting

The park is located near Ilambazar and is easily accessible from the tourist spot of

Shantiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

Bolpur Bolpur is a city and a municipality in Birbhum district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bolpur subdivision. Bolpur municipal area includes Santiniketan, Sriniketan and Prantik. The city is known as a Cultural a ...

. The park is closed on Wednesday, for other days it is open from 10 am - 4 pm. There is an entrance fee of ₹ 10 and ₹ 5 for students and children.

References

Fossil parks in India {{Birbhum-geo-stub