Palm Fossil
| Palm Fossil | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Artifact |
| Artifact Spots | The Desert (7%); Cindersap Forest (0.6% + 3-5% [1]); The Beach (0.6%) |
| Other Locations | Bone Node (0.8%) |
| Sell Price | 100g |
The Palm Fossil is one of the fossils Gunther wants for the museum, and the Calico Desert is the place to dig for it. Artifact Spots in the sand give it far more often than any other area. Cindersap Forest and The Beach can give it too, but only now and then. After the museum, spare fossils still have work to do: they count as bone items for Gunther's Fragments of the Past special order, and a Bone Mill turns them into fertiliser. The Sewing Machine makes the Excavator Shirt from one. Penny and the Dwarf like it as a gift, while most of the valley dislikes it.
The in-game description reads: Palm Fossils are relatively common, but this happens to be a particularly well-preserved specimen.
Location
Artifact Spots are small patches of wriggling worms on open ground. Digging one with a Hoe always gives an item, and no other tool works on them. The item in a spot is fixed for the day, so reloading the game does not change it. Spots appear much more often in Winter, across the whole valley.
The desert gives by far the best odds. Reaching it takes the bus at the Bus Stop, and the bus is repaired by finishing the Vault bundles at the Community Center. Every Artifact Spot in the sand is worth digging on each trip to the desert.
Cindersap Forest rolls for the fossil twice. The first roll is small and steady all year. The second roll is strongest in Summer and Fall, a little weaker in Spring and only half as strong in Winter. The Beach has only the small first chance, so a beach fossil is a lucky bonus while foraging.
A Hoe with the Archaeologist enchantment doubles the chance of an artifact in each spot. The enchantment comes from the Forge in the Volcano Dungeon on Ginger Island. A Treasure Totem spawns a ring of fresh Artifact Spots around the farmer, and each spot draws from the local list. Using one in the desert is a quick way to hunt for the fossil.
On Ginger Island, the Bone Nodes at the Dig Site sometimes hold a Palm Fossil. Breaking them with a Pickaxe gives a small chance of one, alongside the usual Bone Fragments.
Museum
Gunther runs the Museum & Library in Pelican Town. He accepts one of each artifact. Donating the first Palm Fossil adds it to the artifact collection and raises the donation count. That count unlocks Gunther's milestone rewards, so each new artifact moves the collection closer to the next prize.
Gunther also posts the Fragments of the Past special order. It asks for a hundred bone items within a week, and the Palm Fossil counts toward that total. Only bones found after the order is accepted are counted, so fossils saved in a chest beforehand do not help. Completing it earns 3,500g, and the Bone Mill recipe follows in the mail.
Prices
The Palm Fossil sells for twice as much as a Trilobite or a Prehistoric Tool. It matches most of the prehistoric bones. That is still a small sum next to a day of farming. Reading the Treasure Appraisal Guide, a power book, triples the sale price of every artifact, the Palm Fossil included.
A Bone Mill offers another way to cash in. Loading one Palm Fossil into the mill gives a random batch of Quality Fertilizer, Speed-Gro, Deluxe Speed-Gro or Tree Fertilizer. Each batch has a small chance to come out doubled. Spare desert fossils therefore become a steady supply of fertiliser for the farm.
Gifts
Penny and the Dwarf like the Palm Fossil, as they like every artifact. A liked gift raises friendship, so spare fossils are a cheap way to build hearts with both.
The shopkeepers Clint, Gus, Marnie, Pierre, Robin and Willy dislike the Palm Fossil. The older villagers Caroline, Demetrius, Evelyn, George, Jodi, Kent, Lewis, Linus and Pam dislike it too, and so do Krobus, Sandy and the Wizard. The children Jas, Leo and Vincent share that view, and so do Abigail, Alex, Elliott, Emily, Haley, Harvey, Leah, Maru, Sam, Sebastian and Shane. Friendship drops a little with each of them after such a gift.
Notes
Putting Cloth in the feed and a Palm Fossil on the spool of the Sewing Machine makes the Excavator Shirt. A Trilobite on the spool makes the same shirt, so either fossil works.
The desert favours the Palm Fossil more than any other area does. A Hoe therefore belongs in the pack on every desert visit, even on days spent in the Skull Cavern.
All Artifacts
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
| Name | Image | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Amphibian Fossil | 
|
150g |
| Anchor | 
|
100g |
| Ancient Doll | 
|
60g |
| Ancient Drum | 
|
100g |
| Ancient Seed | 
|
5g |
| Ancient Sword | 
|
100g |
| Arrowhead | 
|
40g |
| Bone Flute | 
|
100g |
| Chewing Stick | 
|
50g |
| Chicken Statue | 
|
50g |
| Chipped Amphora | 
|
40g |
| Dried Starfish | 
|
40g |
| Dwarf Gadget | 
|
200g |
| Dwarf Scroll I | 
|
1g |
| Dwarf Scroll II | 
|
1g |
| Dwarf Scroll III | 
|
1g |
| Dwarf Scroll IV | 
|
1g |
| Dwarvish Helm | 
|
100g |
| Elvish Jewelry | 
|
200g |
| Glass Shards | 
|
20g |
| Golden Mask | 
|
500g |
| Golden Relic | 
|
250g |
| Nautilus Fossil | 
|
80g |
| Ornamental Fan | 
|
300g |
| Palm Fossil | 
|
100g |
| Prehistoric Handaxe | 
|
50g |
| Prehistoric Rib | 
|
100g |
| Prehistoric Scapula | 
|
100g |
| Prehistoric Skull | 
|
100g |
| Prehistoric Tibia | 
|
100g |
| Prehistoric Tool | 
|
50g |
| Prehistoric Vertebra | 
|
100g |
| Rare Disc | 
|
300g |
| Rusty Cog | 
|
25g |
| Rusty Spoon | 
|
25g |
| Rusty Spur | 
|
25g |
| Skeletal Hand | 
|
100g |
| Skeletal Tail | 
|
100g |
| Strange Doll (green) | 
|
1000g |
| Strange Doll (yellow) | 
|
1000g |
| Trilobite | 
|
50g |