Presumably, people have come across fossil-bearing layers -- without knowing where they came from, of course -- and found particularly pretty rocks. Are there any records of that? Furthermore, are there any recorded theories on what those rocks were? What sort of theories might they have had to explain plant- and animal-looking rocks?
I'm kind of fascinated by history of science outside of Modern Science. Before it was all formalised, people still found weird stuff, wondered about it, and tried to explain it. Are there any fossils featured in mythologies?
In the last yearbook of the Bavarian archeology (Bayerische Gesellschaft für Archäologie), there is a report of an excavated iron age grave which had a neolithic stone axe in it (~2000 years older).
The ancient man probably had fun in ancient objects (like we today). I can look up the details if you're interested.
I didn't encounter fossils so far.