Possible Fossil Ball Joint

[KJane79]

Can anyone ID this ball joint? It was found in SE Nebraska. It looks old to me, and it feels like heavy rock. The golf ball is for size comparison. Any help would be great! 

 

[KJane79]

*Updated to add it was found in a creek bed in Southeast Nebraska, outside the town of Syracuse.

[Top Trilo]

Definitely the end of a bone, most likely modern. If you try burning it you can tell if it is a fossil or not, modern bone will smell bad and nothing will happen if its a fossil.

[Coco]

Hi,

 

I can't tell you more that it is a part of a bone, but I’m sure that specialists will give their opinion very quickly.

 

In addition to the origin and age of the terrain in which the fossils are found, size is also important for proper identification. Golf ball isn't a good size indicator because we are on an international forum and few people play golf in the world. I just know it’s between the size of a ping-pong ball and a tennis ball, it’s not accurate. Nothing will ever be worth a real ruler in cm or inches.

 

I invite you to read my last link in my signature. If you don’t have a rule, print the document I made available and put your fossils on it before making your photos, making sure to leave a box with the apparent size (pedagogical message)

 

Coco

[Rockwood]

Femoral head I believe. It could easily be a fossil. The burn test would be the best indicator probably. It isn't fool proof though. For instance, cooking will remove the smell of collagen from food remains..

[KJane79]

Sorry about the golf ball. I was just in a hurry to get it posted. Thank you to whomever made the printable cm graph. I hope this helps. Also, I tried burning it in several different spots. I didn't smell anything- except the chemical fumes from the lighter when I put my nose too close. There wasn't a trace of anything that smelled like burning bone or even organic matter. I added the new photos here

[Rockwood]

Odds are on it being a fossil. I still think the head of a femur is a good bet. It may be tough to narrow down further however.

You realize, this is about the size of a human femur ?

[val horn]

Fossil human is highly unlikely (as in not possible) in Nebraska . Head of femur is possible head of humerus is also possible.  Clearly a large animal.  Was the find fully dry when you tried the burn test, if not try it again.  Your state geological association will have geological maps, google geologicals maps nebraska and you should be able to get an idea of age.  From modern sheep goat bison cow to camilids.  How far are you from ashfall Nebraska?  

[Rockwood]

15 minutes ago, val horn said:

(as in not possible) 

I wouldn't be caught that far into a corner.

[val horn]

Ok how old is is required for a fossil, if you go 50 thousand years  no human fossils in the US.  This makes many ice age “fossils” such as a 10 thousand thousand year old mammoth with or without human hunters not fossilized.    I would not want to panic someone who had found a piece of bone that was remineralized that they might need to call the police right now. 

[Fossildude19]

Likely mammal, most likely not human. Possibly bison or deer.

There are not enough diagnostic traits on fragment of bone like this to make a positive ID.

[Rockwood]

2 hours ago, val horn said:

, if you go 50 thousand years

I stay at 10 k .

   ' never seen Pleistocene stuff declared non fossil.

[val horn]

Is that the corner you need to stay in with that pointed cap.  if I admit that I was wrong, can I come out now?

[Rockwood]

35 minutes ago, val horn said:

Is that the corner you need to stay in with that pointed cap.  if I admit that I was wrong, can I come out now?

If you truly believe you are, , it is an educational site. 

[val horn]

Yeah  i appear to be wrong as i cannt find a site on google that goes with 50kya age.  

[KJane79]

Well, this escalated quickly. I hadn't considered the possibility it could be the head from a human femur.  I'll have to dive down some rabbit holes this afternoon and try to match it up with some photos from deer/bison. It's been almost 6 years since I found it, so I'd say it's pretty dry. I know the smell you're referring to for the burn test- it's very similar to the way burning hair smells, right? I didn't detect anything like that. Just the fumes from the lighter and a slight earthy smell- like rocks have. However, I didn't have to lick it to know it wasn't a rock at least, so there's that. 

   From the comments above, I'm guessing a bone has to be a certain age to be considered a fossil? Like not necessarily from just any of the "dinosaur eras". Which sort of blows my mind because it sounds like you're saying that all of the mammoth skeletons found here more than likely wouldn't even  be considered fossils? I guess despite the specifics and technicalities associated with the definition, I've more often than not used it to describe all old bones that didn't fall out of their host within the past 200 years or so, including prehistoric, pre-Columbian, etc. What would you call a bone that  has "fossilized" but isn't old enough to be a true fossil?  Just say hypothetically, that it belonged to one of the native Americans from this region, that may have possibly had a total hip replacement surgery in, say 1587?

[KJane79]

Also, these came out of the same creek- about 1 or 2 miles further downstream and on a different day. A partial baby mammoth jaw, I believe, and a bison skull.

[KJane79]

 Wait.  I just reread the part about calling the cops... IF ( BIG IF)  it were determined to be human, I'd need to call the cops? In case they have a cold case from 1490-1590 they're working on?