Fossil Hunting at Hamar Laghdad Orthoceras Quarry Erfoud

Introduction

Eight kilometers east of Erfoud on the N13 highway, a low ridge of black limestone rises from the desert plain. It holds one of the most fossil-dense Devonian exposures in the world. Berber families have worked the Hamar Laghdad Orthoceras Quarry for generations. The stone they cut is dense with straight-shelled nautiloids, and it now appears on tables, countertops, and museum display cases across five continents. For collectors, however, the quarry itself is the draw. Loose slabs across the quarry floor hold goniatites, orthocerids, and brachiopods in quantities you rarely meet at a single site.

This guide covers exactly how to reach the quarry, and which fossil types you will find and how to identify them. It also covers the Devonian geology that created these deposits, and current access arrangements including fees and export rules.

Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Location and Directions

Location

Hamar Laghdad is a limestone ridge located 8 km east of Erfoud, Drâa-Tafilalet region, southeastern Morocco. The quarry sits on the northern side of Route N13, the main highway connecting Erfoud to Rissani. Use GPS coordinates 31.448° N, 4.176° W for the quarry entrance. The nearest substantial town is Erfoud, which has hotels, restaurants, and fossil shops for visitors.

Getting There

From central Erfoud, drive east on Route N13 toward Rissani. After 8 km, watch for the kilometer-8 marker on your left. A quarry access track branches north (left) at that point and leads 500 metres across flat terrain to the quarry entrance. The track is unpaved but generally passable in a standard vehicle during dry conditions. A 4WD is advisable after rain. The drive from Erfoud town centre takes 10 to 12 minutes.

Parking is informal on the flat gravel apron near the stone workshops at the quarry entrance. There are no formal parking fees.

A guided fossil hunting tour of Erfoud is bookable online for visitors who prefer not to find the quarry tracks alone.

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What Fossils You'll Find

Orthoceras (straight-shelled nautiloids) dominate the assemblage here. These Devonian cephalopods grew long conical shells divided internally into chambers by thin walls called septa. In the black limestone of Hamar Laghdad, the shells are preserved in cross-section as grey-white ellipses, their chambered interiors clearly visible. Specimens range from a few centimetres to over a metre in length. You will find them aligned in bedding planes, often with multiple individuals packed closely together. That pattern is consistent with current-sorting of empty shells after the animals died and sank.

Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Goniatites appear alongside the orthocerids. These are early ammonoids characterised by simple, angular suture patterns visible where the chamber walls meet the outer shell. In the field, look for coiled discs 2 to 8 cm across with a distinctive zigzag seam running around the edge. They are less abundant than the orthocerids but turn up reliably in the loose material on the quarry floor.

Brachiopods occur as scattered valves, typically terebratulid and spiriferid forms. They are smaller than the cephalopods and easy to overlook, but worth collecting for the complete picture of the Devonian seafloor community. Occasional trilobite fragments appear in the matrix, mostly pygidium sections and head shields. Whole trilobites are rare here compared to the dedicated trilobite sites near Alnif.

The quarry floor and waste-material piles are your best collecting ground. Freshly broken surfaces reveal fossils not visible on weathered exteriors, so scan both. The contrast between the pale fossil material and the dark matrix makes identification straightforward even for beginners.

Geologic History

The Ancient Environment

The rocks exposed at Hamar Laghdad belong to the Devonian Erfoud Formation, deposited approximately 393 to 382 million years ago, spanning the Eifelian and Givetian stages of the Middle Devonian. At that time, the region now occupied by the Draa-Tafilalt Basin lay beneath the warm, shallow waters of the Rheic Ocean. It sat in the tropical belt south of the paleoequator, on the margin of the Gondwana supercontinent. Sea surface temperatures are estimated to have ranged between 25 and 30°C, and the ocean supported extraordinarily diverse marine communities.

The black coloration of the limestone results from elevated organic carbon content in the original sediment. Low oxygen levels on the seafloor, likely caused by stratified water masses that prevented circulation, inhibited bacterial decomposition and scavenging. Shells raining down from the water column above accumulated on this anaerobic seafloor and were buried rapidly in fine carbonate mud. Calcite replacement of original shell material produced the grey-white colour that contrasts with the dark matrix. That replacement also gives the specimens the three-dimensional preservation that makes Hamar Laghdad material so recognizable.

How Hamar Laghdad Became a Fossil Site

Local Berber families have quarried the Hamar Laghdad ridge for ornamental limestone for at least four generations. The fossil content was initially treated as a decorative feature of the stone rather than the primary product.

In the 1970s, French researchers in the Erfoud region documented what the deposit held. They recorded the high fossil density and the quality of the three-dimensional preservation. Scientific expeditions through the 1980s and 1990s established the precise stratigraphic position and palaeoenvironmental context of the beds. By the 1990s, the commercial fossil market had recognised what the quarry produced. The operation shifted toward supplying both ornamental slabs and individual collector specimens.

Today the quarry runs parallel operations. Large blocks feed the stone workshops where skilled artisans polish tabletops and sinks, while loose quarry material and selected blocks go to the collector trade. Active quarrying continues to expose new fossil horizons regularly.

Collecting Rules and Regulations

Access and What to Expect

Hamar Laghdad is an active commercial quarry. Independent access is possible, but arrange a local guide through one of the Erfoud fossil shops or guesthouses. It will make the visit considerably better. A guide provides site introductions to the quarry workers, identifies the best current collecting areas, and handles any informal access fees. Guide fees typically range from 300 to 500 MAD (approximately 30 to 50 USD) per half-day, covering site access and collecting assistance.

The quarry operates Monday through Saturday, roughly 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Friday prayer periods may result in a midday pause. Visiting Tuesday through Thursday avoids this.

Visitors may collect loose specimens from designated areas. A reasonable quantity for personal collection is up to 5 kg of material. You can also buy prepared and polished specimens directly from the workshop at the quarry entrance. Its stock runs from small tabletop slabs to large decorative pieces.

What to Bring

Bring at least 2 to 3 litres of water per person. There is no water supply at the quarry. Sun protection is essential: a wide-brimmed hat, long sleeves, and high-SPF sunscreen. The quarry floor is uneven black limestone that absorbs heat, so sturdy closed-toe boots are required.

Bring a geology hammer and chisel if you plan to work matrix material. Specimen wrapping (newspaper or foam) protects finds on the drive back. All transactions at the quarry are cash-only in Moroccan dirhams. The nearest ATM is in Erfoud.

Taking Fossils Out of Morocco

Morocco sets no fixed tourist allowance on fossils you take out of the country. Article 116 of the 2015 Mining Code (Law 33-13) requires a permit to collect and trade fossils, minerals, and meteorites. A 2019 implementing decree sets out the procedures, and the framework was revised again in 2025. Enforcement is uneven, and small purchases from licensed dealers are commonly carried out without incident, but that is practice rather than an entitlement. Keep a receipt and a written description of each specimen and its origin, in case customs ask. Check the current rules with the Moroccan ministry responsible for mines before you travel.

Safety

Summer temperatures at Hamar Laghdad regularly exceed 42°C (108°F) by midday. Plan to arrive by 7:30 AM and leave the site by 11:00 AM during June through August. The rest of the year, temperatures are more manageable, but midday sun remains intense.

The quarry floor has loose rock and uneven steps between bench levels. Watch your footing, particularly on freshly cut limestone edges. Active quarrying areas use manual tools, but workers move heavy stone slabs without warning. Stay clear of any loading activity. The quarry workers are used to visitors, but treat all working areas respectfully. Follow any guidance they give about where you may and may not go.

Hamar Laghdad Orthoceras Quarry Erfoud Fossil Hunting Guide