Huge snail fossil removed from house wall in Adıyaman

ADIYAMAN – İhlas News Agency

A 65 million-year-old huge snail fossil, used as a brick on the wall of a house in the southeastern province of Adıyaman, has been removed and taken to a museum. 

The fossil had been on the wall of the house in Gölbaşı district’s Çelik village for 12 years to prevent water leaks. 

The fossil is 49 centimeters high and 36 centimeters wide, showing that the snail was humongous, unlike modern-day snail sizes.

Mehmet Çetiner, a local in the village, saw a snail fossil in Adıyaman Museum and informed museum officials that a similar fossil was on the wall of his house. 

He said that he brought the stone in 2007 from Haydarlı village and installed it on the wall to prevent water leaks flooding his house. 

Examining the stone, the museum officials removed the two-piece snail fossil from the wall and took it to the museum. 

Adıyaman Museum Deputy Director Mehmet Alkan said that Gölbaşı was mentioned as a “riverside city” in Assyrian sources, adding: “Fifteen days ago, Çetiner informed us about the fossil on his wall after he saw news on media about another snail fossil in the Adıyaman Museum. We arrived in Çelik village and saw that the fossils are similar to each other. Because of this similarity, we believe that this fossil is about 65 million years old.”