Explore / North America / US East
US East, Virginia
Nanjemoy MD
Purse beach Paleocene shark teeth
Fossil site, tidal Source-confirmed findsLegal to collect
What you could find
Reported finds from this shoreline.
Shark teethAlso reported: ray plates, turritella casts.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Dominik Vogt (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Why this spot
Rockhounding locality: Aquia Formation Paleocene shark teeth eroding onto a Potomac beach, older than Calvert Cliffs material at 56 to 66 million years
Maryland DNR itself promotes fossil hunting here; decades of Fossil Forum and Rock & Gem trip reports with finds
Before you go
Hazards noted for this site.
Slippery clayPoison ivy on the trail, rising tide can pinch the narrow beach
Keep exploring nearby
More spots in this area.