Get Your Mystery Objects Identified at the Field Museum
Picked up a rock that looks suspiciously like a dinosaur fossil? Snapped a photo of a bright blue bird that you can’t identify? Your annual chance to get a world-renowned scientist’s take on it is coming up on Saturday, September 9, at the Field Museum’s ID Day.
You can bring in clean, dry animal bones, fossils, rocks, meteorites, seashells, and photographs of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and insects—just nothing that’s alive or was recently, or the animals (or their fleas) could get loose in the museum. You can also meet some of the Field's anthropologists and see cultural items from the museum's collections, but please do not bring in cultural items or human remains.
Even if you don’t have anything to bring in, stop by anyway—the museum’s scientists will have specimens on display for you to see (and touch) and are ready to talk shop about your favorite scientific topic. Plus, it's a Free Admission Day for Illinois residents.
The Field Museum is an active research institution that relies heavily upon its behind-the-scenes collections of nearly 40 million scientific specimens and artifacts. As a result, it’s “home” to dozens of scientists studying everything from moss to Mosasaurus, and ID Day is the one day every year when visitors can bring in specimens to show these scientists and ask questions about them. This event marks the museum’s seventh annual ID Day, and the first iteration of the event since 2019.
ID Day will take place from 10 am- 2 pm in on Saturday, September 9, at the Field Museum’s main hall (near Sobek the Spinosaurus and Máximo the titanosaur). See you (and your mystery objects) there!