MADAGASCAR – REDISCOVERED

A good 30 years ago, nobody knew what treasures would soon come to light in Madagascar. However, when the German seafarer, adventurer and fossil dealer Hans Porombka brought the first, sensationally preserved ammonites back to Europe, a veritable run on the finds soon set in and in the country itself, the excavation and preparation of ammonites developed into an essential source of income for some places.

The legal situation in Madagascar is a curiosity: the export of fossils is prohibited. However, if the piece has been prepared, even if only minimally in a small area, it is no longer a fossil but an artisanal product and is therefore completely legal to leave the country!