SE Texas fossil hunt

[fossilus]

So Monday my wife told me to go on a fossil trip. 

Actually she just wanted me out of the house so that she could have some friends over. 

I ended up picking a river stretch that I had covered twice over the last few months even though I figured it would be thoughly picked over. But it was sunny and 75F which is good even for Texas in January.

It started out slow. An armadillo scute. A horse astragalus. 

And then I found this. I've only found a single camelops upper molar. This is a pair and partial palate. 

[Andy B]

Wow, really good looking find!

[fossilus]

The camelops palate was found on a bar that I (and others) had been searched over multiple times and totally missed.

 

Continuing on I came upon this that I had just walked past a few weeks ago.

[facehugger]

What area of Texas? I wouldn't think SE Texas would be very productive...

 

Nice finds!

[Tidgy's Dad]

Splendid finds! 

Love the double camel tooth. 

[fossilus]

The second photo is after about 15 minutes scrubbing with a wire brush. Tough sandstone but I believe its pretty much all there.  15.5 lbs. My first complete adult columbian mammoth tooth. One of the big things on my bucket list!

 

Anyone out there have any experience cleaning up one of these? I know that the tooth is extremely fragile even though the matrix is hard.

[fossilus]

15 minutes ago, facehugger said:

What area of Texas? I wouldn't think SE Texas would be very productive...

 

Nice finds!

 The Pleistocene Beaumont clays are sometimes quite productive along the coastal rivers.

[PODIGGER]

Great finds!  I don't have any advice on prepping the mammoth tooth without damaging it - but would love to see it when cleaned up!

[fossilus]

I'll try to post some pics as I prepare. But just wanted to add this in situ shot.

 

[Uncle Siphuncle]

5 hours ago, fossilus said:

The second photo is after about 15 minutes scrubbing with a wire brush. Tough sandstone but I believe its pretty much all there.  15.5 lbs. My first complete adult columbian mammoth tooth. One of the big things on my bucket list!

 

Anyone out there have any experience cleaning up one of these? I know that the tooth is extremely fragile even though the matrix is hard.

Careful air scribe work can fully reveal that nice tooth.  Take your time.  Keep some super glue or PaleoBond and some paper towels within reach, as sometimes Texas Pleistocene bones and teeth are pretty fragile at the matrix interface.  

[fossilus]

51 minutes ago, Uncle Siphuncle said:

Careful air scribe work can fully reveal that nice tooth.  Take your time.  Keep some super glue or PaleoBond and some paper towels within reach, as sometimes Texas Pleistocene bones and teeth are pretty fragile at the matrix interface.  

Thanks! I know exactly what you mean.and plan on going carefully. 

[goatinformationist]

Please consider SHMP before you attempt further mechanical means of cleaning.  SHMP can really help to loosen medium to hard clays without

damaging your fabulous tooth.  See this:  Cleaning Quartz - GMS   › writings › cleanquartz-carter

SHMP (sodium hexametaphosphate) pronounced “shemp”. SHMP is a detergent used to help get clay out. It causes the clay to be suspended in the water and ...

 

I love to tout my club. 

 

If anyone else has experience with SHMP please shout out so that everyone can hear.  I have used this on fossils and minerals for about 10 years with good results.  And you can ask for it at just about any chem supply (it's cheap).  Good luck.

[goatinformationist]

Put the tooth into a large bucket of water to cover and about half a level teaspoon of SHMP should do it.  SHMP is the active ingredient in a popular automatic dishwashing detergent which advertises  that it will gets the spots out.  Will not harm the tooth so keep it in the water for a couple of days if you wish.  Whatever is left on the tooth should come out with a toothpick (seriously).  The product is environmentally friendly and if the water is not too cloudy you can use it again.

[fossilus]

4 minutes ago, goatinformationist said:

Put the tooth into a large bucket of water to cover and about half a level teaspoon of SHMP should do it.  SHMP is the active ingredient in a popular automatic dishwashing detergent which advertises  that it will gets the spots out.  Will not harm the tooth so keep it in the water for a couple of days if you wish.  Whatever is left on the tooth should come out with a toothpick (seriously).  The product is environmentally friendly and if the water is not too cloudy you can use it again.

Yes, thanks so much! I will try this absolutely.

[JohnJ]

Not too sure I would soak the tooth in water again, if it has dried out.  You might consider small amounts of rubbing alcohol daubed in places to assist in loosening the matrix.  I would prep this slow, under magnification.  

 

Congratulations on two great finds.  

[fossilus]

Just now, JohnJ said:

Not too sure I would soak the tooth in water again, if it has dried out.  You might consider small amounts of rubbing alcohol daubed in places to assist in loosening the matrix.  I would prep this slow, under magnification.  

As I was thinking about the SHMP method it did cross my mind how I really hate to get my vertebrate fossils wet when cleaning.  I will step carefully, thanks.

[Monica]

Congrats on the awesome finds, and best of luck with the prep of that mammoth tooth! 

[caldigger]

1 hour ago, Monica said:

Congrats on the awesome finds, and best of luck with the prep of that mammoth tooth! 

We will of course be expecting pictures of the results! 

[Plax]

12 hours ago, goatinformationist said:

Please consider SHMP before you attempt further mechanical means of cleaning.  SHMP can really help to loosen medium to hard clays without

damaging your fabulous tooth.  See this:  Cleaning Quartz - GMS   › writings › cleanquartz-carter

SHMP (sodium hexametaphosphate) pronounced “shemp”. SHMP is a detergent used to help get clay out. It causes the clay to be suspended in the water and ...

 

I love to tout my club. 

 

If anyone else has experience with SHMP please shout out so that everyone can hear.  I have used this on fossils and minerals for about 10 years with good results.  And you can ask for it at just about any chem supply (it's cheap).  Good luck.

you reckon this would work on hard clay crab concretions?

[Ptychodus04]

12 hours ago, JohnJ said:

Not too sure I would soak the tooth in water again, if it has dried out. 

Agreed. Vertebrate fossils that have dried tend to respond poorly to water. Also, I would be careful when using a strong detergent on any Pleistocene material because I have seen specimens held together with nothing but the hardened clay. You don't want to start out with a tooth and end up with a bunch of pieces.

 

My experience with prepping mammoth teeth in this natural concrete is that mechanical prep is the only way to get the matrix off. As @Uncle Siphuncle mentioned, careful scribe work and lots of available glue is the best way to prep these. I prefer Paraloid over cyanoacrylate personally. It takes more to consolidate with it and you have to anticipate the cracks some in order to stay ahead of a piece flying off but I find it to be more forgiving and easier to work with in general. Plus, I've never glued myself to a specimen with Paraloid but have many times with cyanoacrylate.

[fossilus]

I do have some experience (not extensive) with paraloid, I was planning on using it after some degree of cleaning.

 

What does scare me about water are the piles of mammoth tusk I've come accross that have seen a couple of rains.

[Ptychodus04]

1 minute ago, fossilus said:

I do have some experience (not extensive) with paraloid, I was planning on using it after some degree of cleaning.

 

What does scare me about water are the piles of mammoth tusk I've come accross that have seen a couple of rains.

Teeth are more stable than tusk typically but only just! I never wet a fossil with water after it has dried regardless of what it is and where it came from. If something needs a rinse, matrix softening, etc. it gets ethanol or acetone.

[Uncle Siphuncle]

2 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

Agreed. Vertebrate fossils that have dried tend to respond poorly to water. Also, I would be careful when using a strong detergent on any Pleistocene material because I have seen specimens held together with nothing but the hardened clay. You don't want to start out with a tooth and end up with a bunch of pieces.

 

My experience with prepping mammoth teeth in this natural concrete is that mechanical prep is the only way to get the matrix off. As @Uncle Siphuncle mentioned, careful scribe work and lots of available glue is the best way to prep these. I prefer Paraloid over cyanoacrylate personally. It takes more to consolidate with it and you have to anticipate the cracks some in order to stay ahead of a piece flying off but I find it to be more forgiving and easier to work with in general. Plus, I've never glued myself to a specimen with Paraloid but have many times with cyanoacrylate.

Kris always provides good prep input, backed by the experience of innumerable successful preps.  My go-to technique is to reveal fossil surface in maybe 1/8-1/4” strips, inspect for cracks with a mag visor, stabilize A/R, and move to another section while consolidant sets up.

 

On a tooth like yours, I’d prob leave any open root cross sections infilled with matrix for stability.  Sometimes I like to leave the non-show side with matrix in place to preserve a bit of context, but that is purely subjective preference, not really a suggestion.  It will be killer no matter what you do.

[fossilus]

Thanks, this is all great advice! I appreciate those who have "been there".

I've also been considering leaving one side unpreped as it seems to have a thicker coating of very hard sand.

[Ptychodus04]

I wholeheartedly agree with @Uncle Siphuncle. This is what I do as well with the exception of performing all work under magnification. I can’t see well enough with out it and find that I can get a much better result by employing 5-10x for all preps. Of course, this tends towards slower preps but that helps with the results as well.