darrow Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 (edited) It's pretty being thick & heavy and has these striations on the outside surface that confuse me. I've handled a few dear, cow and horse skulls... cow of course is out of the question, deer is way too small, seems to big for a horse as well unless they grew 'em bigger back then. My experience with animal skulls ends there, anyone recognize these ridge things or what animals head this might have come from? ...I think thats a green porcelain crab circled in red in the 2nd picture. I thought I rinsed them all out but 3 or 4 hitched a ride home and are still hiding inside the skull bit. Darrow Edited June 19, 2011 by darrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrow Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 a couple mode shots... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 bison horn core frag? Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I sure don't see anything skull-like there. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickNC Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I sure don't see anything skull-like there. I collect modern skulls and neither do I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrow Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 (edited) I sure don't see anything skull-like there. I collect modern skulls and neither do I. yea, I don't either in the photos I posted. Here's a dirrerent perspective... Not sure what the correct term the air pockets or voids in large mammal skulls but the pockets seen in these pictures are what made me think skull fragment... I'll try to get all the little crabs out of it and take some shots after it's dray and under better lighting. Edited June 19, 2011 by darrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrehistoricFlorida Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Have you ruled out mammoth? www.PrehistoricFlorida.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I think you should give this a long soak in a lot of vinegar to remove the marine crud. This does not look like a skull fragment. I wouldn't be surprised to hear in a few days that this IS a chunk of mammoth tooth. http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrow Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 Have you ruled out mammoth? I wouldn't know how to rule mammoth out except by location/strata. I did recently find this piece of what I assume to be mammoth ivory in the exact same spot so perhaps no... I have not ruled out mammoth, but have confirmed it as a possiability maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrow Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 I think you should give this a long soak in a lot of vinegar to remove the marine crud. This does not look like a skull fragment. I wouldn't be surprised to hear in a few days that this IS a chunk of mammoth tooth. Took me a while to coax all these little porcelain crabs out of all the crevices and passages. It's soaking now but I'm not seeing any enamel or tooth looking features. It really looks like bone but we'll see what it looks like when it's cleaned up and dried out. Darrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjaak Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 My first thought was a piece of mammoth tooth. Let's wait till you cleaned it. The other piece is indeed mammoth ivory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 bison horn core frag? +1 This looks like a small section of horn core Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjaak Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 +1 This looks like a small section of horn core Ok, I looked again and you convinced me Also explains the bone structure and the hollow structure inside. Must have been a big one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Ok, I looked again and you convinced me Also explains the bone structure and the hollow structure inside. Must have been a big one! Working at the museum here in Idaho, I have seen more than a couple horn cores LOL! I was just agreeing to a well trained eye at any rate! As to size, a semi-educated guess would be Bison bison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrow Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 After looking at some pictures of Bison horn cores it seem obvious now, but here's some pictures after I cleaned it up... hopefully a little better perspectives than yesterday. Looks like the diameter would be about 100mm if it were a complete core. Darrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrow Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 and a couple more photos... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I've never seen weathered-up a bison horn core before; I'm glad you posted and I'm glad for the members that knew right off what it was. Maybe next time, I'll know "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrow Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 (edited) I've never seen weathered-up a bison horn core before; I'm glad you posted and I'm glad for the members that knew right off what it was. Maybe next time, I'll know me too! I went back through my box of pleistocene skull bits from this site and found 6 more horn core fragments. The piece below is actually large enough to orient (I think). Not sure what that margin/ridge feature thing is where the horn core diameter steps down sharply just before it meets the skull, but I think thats where this piece came from. I marked up pictures to illustrate the curvature of fragment of extrnal horn core surface and proximal/distal orientation... (looks like the first picture got a little skewed/streched somehow.) Darrow Edited June 20, 2011 by darrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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