In this study, gamma-irradiated marine mollusc (Venus sp.) fossils were investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) at ambient temperature. Powder X-ray diffraction technique indicates that the Venus sp. fossils were made mainly of CaCO 3 . Before γ -irradiation, the EPR lines of the powder of fossil samples showed the existence of Mn 2+ (I = 5/2, 100% natural abundance) ions with g av = 2.0055 and A av = 9.4 mT. γ -Irradiation-induced additional defects in Venus sp. fossil were attributed to axialĊO − 3 (g ⊥ = 2.0171, g // = 2.0048), orthorhombiċ CO − 2 (g x = 2.0030, g z = 2.0018, g y = 1.9973, g av = 2.0007), freely rotatingĊO − 2 (g iso = 2.0007), isotropicṠO − 2 (g = 2.0057), axialṠO − 3 (g ⊥ = 2.0036, g // = 2.0024) and isotropicṠO − 3 (g = 2.0032) free radicals. The g-values of these free radicals were compared with the literature data belonging to similar defects.