The Aurora Fossil Museum is a natural science museum in

Aurora, North Carolina Aurora is a town in Beaufort County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 520 at the 2010 Census. Geography Aurora is located at (35.301476, -76.789461). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , ...

. The museum's collection is built around fossils recovered from the nearby phosphate mine owned since 1995 by

PotashCorp The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, also known as PotashCorp, was a company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The company merged with Calgary-based Agrium to form Nutrien, in a transaction that closed on January 1, 2018. The company was th ...

, but also includes fossil specimens donated from around the world as well as geology and meteorite displays. Fossils from the local mine are approximately 18-22 and 2.5-5 million years old coming from layers in the mine traced to the early

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

and

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Pungo River and Yorktown formations. The museum also maintains 2 spoils piles in the park across the street from the museum. The pits are filled with mine tailings where small shell, coral, shark tooth and other fossils are relatively easy to find. The pits are open during daylight hours daily. The museum provides information about the geological history of the Aurora area, which is known as a center for fossil hunting (especially due to the phosphate mine). The museum was founded in 1976 and opened in 1978 as a collaboration between the town of Aurora, local mines,

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

, and other interested parties. Visitors are allowed to collect fossils from the neighboring spoils pile.

Events

The museum has hosted a yearly Fossil Festival each May since 1983. The festival includes a fossil auction.

References

External links

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Fossil Festival
{{authority control Natural history museums in North Carolina Museums in Beaufort County, North Carolina Fossil museums Geology museums in the United States Paleontology in North Carolina Historic Albemarle Tour