Millimodels Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 I have been digging in the garden in Rossendale, Lancashire, to clear an area to pave and put up a green house. The area has previously been a barn, demolished in the 1990s, and since then field, then mowed as lawn. After clearing the turf I started to level the earth and stones below. I found that the old barn floor was about 8" (20cm) down, composed of ruble stones. In amongst them I suddenly found this which I immediately saw a resemblence to tree fern stems/trunks that I had seen in museum. It is very dense, weighing in at just over a Kilogram, denser than the surrounding stones in the old floor. There is an old coal mine less than a mile away and one of the nineteenth century inhabitants is shown on the census, 1861 I think, as a farmer and miner. There is also evidence of several small unrecorded mine close to the garden than that. We have a borehole for water and the record of that shows 40 feet of shale and clay before solid rock is found. I note that besides the patterend surface there are several holes that look like burrows penetrating the object, especially visible at the ends. My assumption is that the burrows predate the end breakages as they would have weakened it at those points. My photos are too large to send all at once. Any ideas? Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Could very well be, but it's hard to judge just from that one photo. Is it possible to post some more with higher resolution? Also from the ends. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Rotated, cropped and brightened: 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM - APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strepsodus Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 I think it’s a piece of Stigmaria, the holes being the root scars (where smaller roots would attach to the larger root). It could be from the Millstone grit or the Coal Measures. Nice find. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millimodels Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 Another photo showing the end. This is from one end, you can see a probable worm hole going across the entire width. There are other holes in the body of it and anoyher large one across the other end. One of my photos is just below the size limit on posting so can only put up one to a post. Robin Madge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strepsodus Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 57 minutes ago, Millimodels said: Another photo showing the end. This is from one end, you can see a probable worm hole going across the entire width. There are other holes in the body of it and anoyher large one across the other end. One of my photos is just below the size limit on posting so can only put up one to a post. Robin Madge The dark line near the top of the rock on this photo looks like it may be a rootlet that would have come off a larger root though it’s difficult to tell from the photo. So I’m fairly sure this is a piece of Stigmaria. The tube shape going vertically on the above photo may be a burrow but if so I think it is more likely to have been created by a bivalve rather than a worm. However I think it’s more likely to be just the way the rock has fractured. What are your thoughts on this @Archie? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 looks like Stigmaria to me also 1 "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 +1 for Stigmaria. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 I agree with @Strepsodus that its a section of a Stigmaria cast and that the dark line seen on the end is probably a rootlet, nice find! Heres some examples from a local colliery for comparison, two casts and an adpression with the rootlets still attached 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 My first impression was also of Stigmaria. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millimodels Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 The dark line is a tubular hole across the entire width, like a worm hole. There is another on the other end which leads me to think that would cause weak points that would lead to fracture at these places. Ther are several other fine holes in the surface and fine grass roots from the turf were finding their way into them. I have managed to get another photo uploaded. Robin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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