MrR Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 Greetings all. I'd like to post a link to a completed online auction that had an item that I believe members would find interesting. However the auction page is at that big auction site. Can someone tell me if such a post would run counter to the rules of the forum? It seems as if it might. But it's also can be a bit of a problem if I post images from the auction without permission of the seller. I believe the item is interesting enough that it would be worth members seeing. It was described as a native American paint cup found in CA. What makes it of such interest on TFF is that it was supposedly, and possibly, made from a trilobite fossil. So it is a fossil and an artifact. And while the formations in that area wouldn't "naturally" hold fossils of that age, it does look like it may be a trilobite fossil. There is what looks to be a partial multi-lens eye present. Before seeing that I was thinking more along the ammonite lines. I am too inexperienced to make such a call. So is it a bad thing to post the link to the completed auction? If so, I won't do it. I don't know either the buyer or the seller, FWIW. Thanks. EDIT: PHOTOS ONLY: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 (edited) Make an educational and newsworthy post. Give credit to the photographer. The photo should be allowed to be used under the Fair Use part of the US Copyright Laws. https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html Edited February 18, 2021 by DPS Ammonite 1 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas.Dodson Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 Shouldn't discussion of the legitimacy and source (what is it?) of the item constitute fair use? I took a look at this item you mentioned. I want to see where the ribbing stops on the item. The picture's don't make it clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 Pictures of the fossil involved ONLY! No quoted ad copy, no seller's names or stores mentioned. Photos should not have any identifying copy or backgrounds. LINKS TO ONLINE FOSSIL RETAIL SALES ARE NOT ALLOWED. 2 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...
Fossildude19 Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 I would be in the ammonite camp here. Not seeing the tri-lobed body. Also, the shape of an ammonite on it's side would be more conducive to a natural paint pot. 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...
DPS Ammonite Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 Did they say what the material is? The scratches sort of look like they were made in wood or modern bone and not stone. My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrR Posted February 18, 2021 Author Share Posted February 18, 2021 7 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said: Did they say what the material is? The scratches sort of look like they were made in wood or modern bone and not stone. I don't believe any mention was made of what material it was. I get what you're saying though, as I have seen those kind of scrapes/scratches on bone or antler. So it does look like softer material than one might expect. Interesting. Ram's horn? Or are the segments too small. I'm going from age-fading memory here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 On 2/18/2021 at 1:44 AM, MrR said: So is it a bad thing to post the link to the completed auction? If so, I won't do it. I don't know either the buyer or the seller, FWIW. Thanks. According to forum rules it's not allowed to link to any place that sells fossils. So, no. However, if you download the photographs, you can repost them here. The seller has posted the photographs to the public domain (auction site), which makes them available for fair use. On 2/18/2021 at 1:44 AM, MrR said: I believe the item is interesting enough that it would be worth members seeing. It was described as a native American paint cup found in CA. What makes it of such interest on TFF is that it was supposedly, and possibly, made from a trilobite fossil. So it is a fossil and an artifact. That certainly is an interesting artefact. As Tim said above, I think this is an ammonite rather than a trilobite, but that doesn't change too much as to it's cultural significance. It's not unheard of, though, for more traditional peoples to use fossils as raw materials for cultural objects. Examples abound, including Baculites-sections being used as Buffalo Stones, fossils ending up in medicine bags (presumably their strange and unusual shapes made them attractive, again a lot of ammonites), and megalodon teeth found at Central American archaeological sites, including Sitio Conte in Panamá, and certain Maya sites. According to my research, the latter may have to do with the peoples inhabiting these areas associating these giant shark's teeth with the primordial earth monster, know to the Aztec as Cipactli. An interesting publication on this topic is Adrienne Mayor's 2005 "Fossil Legends of the First Americans". 1 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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