Building stones and fossils of downtown Montreal
Palaeontologists seek out fossils in the most remote places on Earth, but you can find them right here in downtown Montreal – without even picking up a shovel. Built from a variety of local and imported stone, the city’s churches, officesÌýand apartment buildings harbour a veritable compendium of fossils and geological specimens. Our Building Stones and Fossils guide will help you track them down.
- Building Stones and Fossils (online version)
Building Stones and Fossils (PDF)- Building Stones and Fossils (PDF)
NEW! Free downloadable Ìý(in English). This GIS Storymap gives you a virtual tour of seven sites around Â鶹AV downtown campus that are loaded with fossils.ÌýÌýÌý
Twenty fossil sites near Montreal
Go fossil huntingÌýon the island of Montreal at one of these easy-to-reach sites.
The Gault Nature Reserve
A small site about the Gault Nature Reserve atÌýMont St-Hilaire with information about its history, geology and the animals and plants that can be found on it.
Ordovician life and fossils
Learn more about the creatures that lived in the warm seas of the Ordovician that covered Montreal almost half a billion years ago and the fossils that they left.
The Museum's Ordovician diorama provides more information about this time period.
Feedback
If you use the resources here, please fill out our feedback form. We appreciate your comments!