WITCHES’ FINGERS: THE FOSSILS THAT FELL FROM THE SKY

For some of us, our very first fossil found in the field was a belemnite. Smooth, elongated and rather pleasing to the eye and to hold, these little treasures have a way of turning a casual beach walk into a lifelong fascination.

For Dallin Young, that first find started his fossil obsession—and I know exactly how he feels!

Imagine picking one up without knowing what it was. A slender stone finger. A pointed dart. Something curious enough to slip into your pocket and carry home.

Long before palaeontology offered an explanation, finds like these inspired some wonderfully imaginative stories.

In parts of Europe, belemnites became known as witches’ fingers, devil’s fingers and thunderbolts. Some people believed they had fallen from the sky during thunderstorms. Others kept them as charms, hoping a stone thunderbolt might protect their home from lightning.

With Halloween approaching, these curious fossils deserve a moment in the candlelight.

Their real story takes us beneath an ancient sea.

MEET THE BELEMNITE

Belemnites were squid-like marine animals belonging to the cephalopods, the group that includes living squid, octopuses, cuttlefish and nautiluses.

Picture a streamlined swimmer moving through seawater, eyes watching for movement and arms reaching towards a meal.

Inside its body was a supporting shell with several distinct parts: a tongue-shaped extension called the pro-ostracum, a chambered cone called the phragmocone, and the solid, pointed guard, or rostrum, towards the rear.

That last piece is the familiar fossil many of us recognise.

Squid also have an internal supporting structure, but the dense guards of belemnites gave these ancient animals something particularly durable to leave behind.

WHY DO WE FIND SO MANY LITTLE “BULLETS”?

After a belemnite died, its softer, squishy parts were often scavenged or decayed before they could become fossils. The solid guard had a much better chance of surviving burial.

This helps explain why a complete belemnite is an exceptional discovery, while isolated guards are common in some Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks.

Each little dart represents part of an animal that lived in a vanished marine world, preserved in sediments that eventually became stone.

It is rather lovely to think that something so small can carry an entire sea into your hand.

A WORLD OF FIRST FINDS

One of my favourite things about sharing fossils is hearing where you have found yours.

When I previously wrote about belemnites, readers brought together a wonderful little map of discoveries.

Arno Martini shared finds from northern California, while Anne Glenn finds them in Wyoming. Georg Laki has collected them from Early Jurassic rocks at Gasperich in southern Luxembourg, and Scott Carpenter and his daughter collect them along the Jurassic Coast.

Juanjo Ugalde Robledo finds them in La Rioja, Spain, and Gabriel Santos collects them in Peniche, Portugal. Rossi Franco spotted one embedded in building material at the Bank of Italy in Genoa—a lovely reminder that fossil discoveries sometimes happen in the middle of a city.

Here in British Columbia, Lloyd Rempel and I have found them too, including at Harrison Lake.

Different places, different ancient seas, and that same small thrill of recognition: there you are!

HOW TO RECOGNISE ONE

Look for an elongated fossil that tapers towards a point. Many resemble a bullet or dart, though their shapes vary between different kinds of belemnite.

A broken specimen may reveal calcite arranged in a radiating pattern. At the broader end, some specimens preserve a conical cavity that once held the chambered phragmocone.

Colour alone will not identify one. Their shades vary with preservation and the surrounding rock.

And despite their tooth-like appearance, these fossils are pieces of an internal shell.

FROM THUNDERBOLTS TO ANCIENT SEAS

There is something deeply human about finding an unfamiliar object and reaching for a story that might explain it. A pointed fossil becomes a witch’s finger. A stone uncovered after rain becomes a thunderbolt. Something strange and beautiful becomes a charm to keep close.

Today, we can recognise the animal behind the folklore while still enjoying the wonder that inspired those earlier explanations.

The next time you spot a little stone dart among the pebbles, pause for a closer look. You may be looking at the remains of a swimmer from the age of dinosaurs—or the beginning of your very own fossil obsession.

Was a belemnite your first fossil find? I would love to hear where you found it.