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Need Help Identifying This Fossilized Bone.

Mmoon

By Mmoon
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Mmoon New Member

Mmoon

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Hello,

I am need of help identifying this fossilized bone I found back in October 2005.Found bone on the Brazos River sand bar located in Wallis Texas.Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

post-17260-0-16784100-1420164206_thumb.jpg

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caldigger Regular Member

caldigger

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What does the other side look like and are there any holes made in it to help identify what it was used for? Interesting to say the least.

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Fruitbat Regular Member

Fruitbat

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VERY interesting! Obviously ceremonial because those parallel lines sure weren't made by any NATURAL process! I'm with RichW9090 on this...it almost looks like a human clavicle. I would love to see some side and bottom views!

-Joe

Illigitimati non carborundum

Fruitbat's PDF Library

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Doctor Mud Regular Member

Doctor Mud

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I'm watching this space - this looks very interesting!

:popcorn:

Edited by Doctor Mud
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izak_ Regular Member

izak_

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What would it mean being 'human'. I'm a bit uncomfortable - but i'm following this topic's every step :)

No matter what, nice find and also a very interesting one lol :P

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Auspex Regular Member

Auspex

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More pictures, please!

"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!

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RichW9090 Regular Member

RichW9090

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It's a proximal half of a radius, and it does appear to be human.

The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence".

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mkrofdrms Regular Member

mkrofdrms

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Now I am following this and question if it it's even fossilized.. was it found in the surface or was it prepped from a chunk of rock material? I'm glad I hunt for shark teeth, although every once in a while I see deer bones washed in the beach, or are they deer... oh dear. Best of luck. MK

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Opisthotriton Regular Member

Opisthotriton

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Definitely radius, but I'm not ready to commit to human just yet. The head seems too oval - a human radial head should be perfectly circular. The radial tuberosity is a little too close to the head, but that could just be individual variation. My main curiosity is the rest of the bone - why does it become perfectly flat on one side? That semicircular cross section is not from a human radius. I suppose the bone could be split and abraded, but the flat side doesn't look like the middle of a radius (not even a hint of medullary cavity), and the photo of the bottom end view suggests that the flat side is the same cortical bone as the rounded side. Although...looking at it some more (left photo of post #12), the proximal part of the shaft could be a split open radius (with depression for the medullary cavity), and the distal part could just have split thinner (on the other side of the medullary cavity) so that's why it looks solid.

I'd like to hear from members who are very familiar with the radii of other mammals, just to rule out the other options.

Either way, the markings on it are fantastic. Is there a local archaeologist you could show it to? If it is a marked human bone, it could be very important for archaeological research, and donating it to a local museum would solve any worry about the legality of possessing a human bone (because it would be a Native American bone, and those are strongly protected).

Great find!

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Mmoon New Member

Mmoon

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Thank you again for all your replies.I found the bone walking along the sand bar on the Brazos River bone was on top of the sand.

Thanks again for everybody's input.

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erose Regular Member

erose

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Whatever "animal" it came from the lines alone suggest a very interesting, if not important, archaeological artifact. I would definitely try and get this seen by an archaeologist. The local historical society would be the first stop and they can kick it upstairs if need be. There may even be an unknown site nearby that it weathered free of.

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Mmoon New Member

Mmoon

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Just contacted a local archaeologist emailed them the photo's hopefully they will have some information.Will post what they say

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Auspex Regular Member

Auspex

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An animal radius as an atlatl; strong magic indeed!

"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!

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Doctor Mud Regular Member

Doctor Mud

Posted
Posted (edited)

Definitely radius, but I'm not ready to commit to human just yet. The head seems too oval - a human radial head should be perfectly circular. The radial tuberosity is a little too close to the head, but that could just be individual variation. My main curiosity is the rest of the bone - why does it become perfectly flat on one side? That semicircular cross section is not from a human radius. I suppose the bone could be split and abraded, but the flat side doesn't look like the middle of a radius (not even a hint of medullary cavity), and the photo of the bottom end view suggests that the flat side is the same cortical bone as the rounded side. Although...looking at it some more (left photo of post #12), the proximal part of the shaft could be a split open radius (with depression for the medullary cavity), and the distal part could just have split thinner (on the other side of the medullary cavity) so that's why it looks solid.

I'd like to hear from members who are very familiar with the radii of other mammals, just to rule out the other options.

Either way, the markings on it are fantastic. Is there a local archaeologist you could show it to? If it is a marked human bone, it could be very important for archaeological research, and donating it to a local museum would solve any worry about the legality of possessing a human bone (because it would be a Native American bone, and those are strongly protected).

Great find!

I see what you mean Opi, here's an image of a human radius, proximal articular surface (head) circled, radial tuberosity indicated with an arrow.

See how circular the head is and how much lower the radial tuberosity is.

post-11936-0-74851800-1420239451_thumb.png

post-11936-0-07107800-1420239752_thumb.jpg

For comparison - unknown radius (image rotated and cropped)

Edited by Doctor Mud
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JohnJ Regular Member

JohnJ

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looks like a spear thrower with tally marks to me

regards

Paul

An animal radius as an atlatl; strong magic indeed!

At under 7 inches, I think it would functionally be much too short for an atlatl. ;)

The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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RichW9090 Regular Member

RichW9090

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Yeah, no way that's an atlatl.

More likely, I'd think, is that it is a rasp, if it is functional at all.

The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence".

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