The best replacement for fossils is artifacts.

The best alternatives to fossils are rated as following:
★★★★★  artifacts
★★★★  bones
★★★  rocks
★  rock layers
★  dinosaurs
  animal fossils
  any archeological artifacts

Your alternative for fossils is not listed? Suggest!
Speaking about fossils, one probably shouldn't forget about dinosaur fossils.

Other search terms related to fossils and their ratings are:
★★★★★ dinosaur fossils
You have in mind a companion for fossils and it is not yet here? Propose!



Google Trends

Scale is based on the average worldwide traffic of fossils in all years. Click on graph for more.
fossils
artifacts
bones