Fossils from the Collection of Stanislav Bačar
Fossils or petrified remains are silent but revealing witnesses of life in the past. They can tell us which animals and plants lived on Earth tens of thousands, or even millions or billions of years ago. Fossils even help experts to determine the climate or tectonic changes which occurred throughout geological history. Most fossils are preserved in stone due to a process called petrifaction or fossilisation, in which solid parts are absorbed or even replaced with inorganic substances.
The museum collection in Ajdovščina shows a permanent exhibition on fossils owned by the collector and amateur geologist from Ajdovščina, Stanislav Bačar, who dedicated his entire life to researching fossils on Slovenian territory. He had amassed an enviable collection, discovered several new fossils, and made an important contribution to the knowledge of the geological history of our region. The exhibition contains several interesting fossils, including samples of petrified nanoplankton, algae, foraminifera, protozoa, mosses, serpulidae, hydrozoans, shells, snails, corals and fossilised plants that lived in the area of present-day Slovenia 17 and even 310 million years ago.