Fish Heads in North Georgia?

[ThisOldFossil]

Hello all!  This is my first post in the forum besides the introduction. I’m open to any and all interpretations on this piece. Did I just find a fish head in my backyard?  There are tons of fossils (marine and palm) pouring out of the hills on my property.  I’m so close to Chattanooga (10 minutes away), I imagine we would share similar geology but I’m unsure and try not to make assumptions. Yay for the scientific method!
 

Found on the surface at the base of a shallow ravine among lots of fossil palm wood, shale outcroppings, and some volcanic(?) glass.  Northern Walker co, Georgia, USA. 

Pictures are as follows...

1) “Right” side

2) “Left” side

3) “Top”

4) “Bottom” with “mouth” facing left

5) “Back” side with “top” at the top of photo

6) “Underside” with “mouth” at bottom left of photo

7) The location behind my driveway that keeps vomiting out fishy bits and petrified wood!

[Pterygotus]

Sorry but I don’t think this is a fish head. Some other members will be able to give you an accurate ID on what it is.

[ThisOldFossil]

It may not be!  More wood perhaps?  I just hate backyard mysteries. Sometimes when you get an image in your head it’s hard to shake it and see something else!

[Jeffrey P]

Do you know the age of the bedrock in your area? That would likely narrow the possibilities. I and other Forum members have collected Cambrian trilobites in nearby Chatsworth and another Forum member collected Silurian brachiopods near Dalton. It is likely that where you live the bedrock is also Paleozoic, but I don't know the geology there well enough to say for sure. 

[ThisOldFossil]

Well, I’m in the Cumberland Plateau so Mississippian and Pennsylvanian periods?  The rock is limestone, shale, and sandstone.  I live on the side of a hill that’s part of a larger lifted area with some erosion. 

[FossilDAWG]

These specimens are typical of the chert nodules that are abundant in the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian rocks.that make up the bedrock of that area.  Fossils can be found, but they are marine fossils typical of the Paleozoic: brachiopods, corals, blastoids, crinoids (mostly stems),and such. The resemblance to wood or "fish heads" is superficial.  The key to fossil identification is in the details.  Palm wood has a very distinctive structure of vascular bundles.  Fish skulls have a distinct pattern of bones.  These features are not present in the photographed specimens.  Also the rock formations are many millions of years too old for palms.

 

I hope you will continue to search for fossils in your area, they are there and very cool when you find them

 

Don

[ThisOldFossil]

This is the palm wood (or what my google skills have led me to surmise) that it was found with. Am I totally off base and it’s not palm at all?

[ThisOldFossil]

Also found this just a few minutes ago if this helps date the area. I have no clue what this is either. 

[Fossildude19]

The first items look like corals. 

[Mark Kmiecik]

You've found some interesting specimens. I can't say what any of them are with any certainty, but hang loose, someone who recognizes one or more will chime in.