Found in garden of abandoned mansion

[Pieter]

Hi,

 

We hired a mansion that was abandoned for several years and strolling through the gardens I saw what I thought was a small concrete chair, hidden under leafs and bushes. I did not give it a second thought until the next day when I looked at it again and recognized it as a vertebrae, a big vertebrae. Upon giving it a closer look I saw that it was not concrete but more likely bone. And then I figured it could be a dinosaur bone, hence coming here and asking your opinion.

 

Full width is about 60 cm, see pictures below.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Best, Pieter

[Gizmo]

Most likely a whale vertebra. @Boesse

[Darktooth]

Wow, that is a crazy thing to find in the garden!

[Pieter]

@Gizmo Seems you're right, checking pictures of whale vertebrae, but still cool. Thanks

[Ash]

That would make an awesome chair!

[Ludwigia]

Now that is the coolest chair I've ever seen!

[Pagurus]

It's the cat's meow. I wonder what the story is behind that vertebra, resting peacefully now in the garden. Did the mansion, in its heyday, boast of maritime discoveries? It's surely a conversation starter.

[Pieter]

The mansion was build in the 1800s by the mayor of the village and was then bought in 1909 by a family of dentists. Around 2015 the mansion was abandoned.

 

Picture from 1936 and the other just now.

Edited April 26, 2020 by Pieter

[Bobby Rico]

Really interesting thread and love the  vertebra seating . I really like seen old photos of places.

 

cheers Bobby 

[Rockwood]

Sea captains and mansions are often associated. They were the overpaid CEOs of the day. 

[FossilNerd]

Now that’s a chair!  Wonder if I could convince my wife to let me replace the dinning room table chairs with whale verts... 

[Bobby Rico]

Now we know why Captain Ahab was so insanely driven , he wanted some new vertebra patio furniture, so in the summertime he could rest his leg in comfort. 

[Boesse]

Unfortunately difficult to say what type of whale! This is probably the very last lumbar vertebra in the series, owing to the single "hypapophysis" on the bottom (ventral) side of the body of the vertebra.

[Pieter]

@Boesse Thanks very much for the info. Any tips on how to clean it?

[Kane]

1 hour ago, Pieter said:

Any tips on how to clean it?

Bleach might help kill off the lichen that has taken residence on this impressive piece.