Another Spring hunt on Edisto Island, S.C.

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A couple of weeks ago Dennis and I went back to Edisto Beach, S.C. to celebrate our 31st. wedding anniversary.

The drive to the Island was an unpleasant mix of wind and heavy rain, but all that weather served to redistribute fresh fossil material on the beach! Once again, we had lovely weather and low tides at a convenient time of day for the rest of the week.

 

The majority of the fossils found on Edisto Beach are Late Pleistocene, ca. 50,000-10,000 old. They are from an undetermined offshore unit, Charleston County, S.C.

 

This very large vertebra was sitting right on top of the shell pile the morning after the big blow. I tried to remember to take in situ photos. It's so hard to not just snatch the finds up! And I remembered to use my special turquoise Magic Photo Cube  @aerogrower

  We are not sure of the ID of the vertebra beyond it being a cervical one. Any ideas?

And a view of each angle;

 

My hunting buddy Dennis has developed quite an eye for fossils, and contributed to our antler collection in this photo. I have never found so much antler at one time!

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I love the texture on these antler bases.

 

Looks like a Pleistocene rodent had a chew on the piece of antler.

 

Here are two unidentified bones that we found. I was hoping that there would be enough intact features to ID them. Any thoughts on these?

 

 

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In keeping with the deer week we had, here is an astragalus from one.

 

I don't keep much of the ubiquitous turtle shell on Edisto, but these wonderfully textured pieces and peripherals appealed to me as do the neural elements.

 

 

 

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A worn Equus incisor.

And a couple of Bison teeth

 

Three Cetacean vertebrae

 

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I am rather pleased with this find, a Dasypus bellus osteoderm.

 

A partial alligator scute

 

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I really like this mammal petrosal. My eye/brain is beginning to distinguish these from phosphate pebbles!

 

This has an interesting shape.  Thanks Jeff for pointing out the Mastodon origin here  Does anyone recognize it? 

 

I found a lot of marine fossils, but only photographed a few.  I did find another Great White tooth in almost the exact spot as last year's.

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A couple of Gastropod steinkerns, an assortment of fish skull bones, ray pavement teeth and barb, and a few small shark teeth.

 

 

Fossils aren't the only finds on Edisto Beach. As I have outlined before; There are other relics of the past scattered on the beach at Edisto.  A village lost to hurricanes in the 1800's and the subsequent  erosion destroyed Edingsville Beach and all that is left are the occasional bits of tableware and brick that wash up on the sand.

 

This year I found a nice heavy bottle base half buried in the sand.

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Edited May 10, 2018 by old bones
darned autocorrect :(

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And much older than that is the Native pottery. This is a very large piece that somehow survived the punishing waves to retain the curve of the original shape.

 

Some of the impressed and stamped patterns on some of the sherds.

 

The hunting was good, the company was great and I even got to meet up with my friend and paleontologist Ashby Gale.

 

Thanks for looking

[Tidgy's Dad]

Thank you for posting! 

A wonderful report, great photos and, best of all, some amazing finds! 

[flyg]

That's magnificent. Some of best that site has to offer. Well done. The erosion and partial replacement of material there over the last 3 years has really kept things stirred up.

 

G

[Ancient Bones]

Very interesting report Julianna. Love the osteoderm, and looking forward to joining you on your next  Edisto hunt !

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26 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Thank you for posting! 

A wonderful report, great photos and, best of all, some amazing finds! 

Thanks Adam

 

8 minutes ago, flyg said:

That's magnificent. Some of best that site has to offer. Well done. The erosion and partial replacement of material there over the last 3 years has really kept things stirred up.

 

G

Thank you G! We did get lucky with the blustery weather prior to our arrival.

5 minutes ago, Ancient Bones said:

Very interesting report Julianna. Love the osteoderm, and looking forward to joining you on your next  Edisto hunt !

Thanks, Mum. I hope we have the same kind of luck then too!

[Sacha]

Nice job Julianna. You really nailed it this year!

[Darktooth]

Lots of good finds! Congratulations on a great hunt!

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

Such cool finds ..  you are always posting some amazing photos to boot.  And you found Ashby!  He's a common lurker on the FB group, The Palmetto Paleontological Society.  He is an invaluable resource.

 

Cheers,

B

[Fruitbat]

Impressive!  VERY impressive!

 

-Joe

[Peace river rat]

What a day of great finds, any day I find ONE whale vert, is great. No need to travel to the Peace river with finds like that!

[aerogrower]

Wow incredible finds!

 

[Miocene_Mason]

Nice finds, that GW is particularly beautiful!

[jcbshark]

Excellent finds and pics as always Julianna I think you’re unknown may be a small piece of mastodon or gomph enamel. Congrats on a great hunt!

[Castle Rock]

Wonderful finds!  I would suggest that the textured bones are, in fact pieces of antlers from small deer.  Neat stuff!  dave 

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9 hours ago, Sacha said:

Nice job Julianna. You really nailed it this year!

Thank you, John  You know I love my semi annual 'big chunks'  

9 hours ago, Darktooth said:

Lots of good finds! Congratulations on a great hunt!

Thanks, Darktooth

7 hours ago, Brett Breakin' Rocks said:

Such cool finds ..  you are always posting some amazing photos to boot.  And you found Ashby!  He's a common lurker on the FB group, The Palmetto Paleontological Society.  He is an invaluable resource.

 

Cheers,

B

Thanks, Brett. Yes, I am lucky to be able to meet up with Ashby (and pick his brain) on my trips to Edisto. lol

6 hours ago, Fruitbat said:

Impressive!  VERY impressive!

 

-Joe

Thank you, Joe 

4 hours ago, Peace river rat said:

What a day of great finds, any day I find ONE whale vert, is great. No need to travel to the Peace river with finds like that!

Thank you. I think these verts are from dolphin, too small for whale. That is still on my bucket list

1 hour ago, aerogrower said:

Wow incredible finds!

 

Thank you Ray

58 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

Nice finds, that GW is particularly beautiful!

Thanks! It was neat to see it just lying there, all clean and shiny.

40 minutes ago, jcbshark said:

Excellent finds and pics as always Julianna I think you’re unknown may be a small piece of mastodon or gomph enamel. Congrats on a great hunt!

Duh, you are so right Jeff. Mastodon it is. Thanks

30 minutes ago, Castle Rock said:

Wonderful finds!  I would suggest that the textured bones are, in fact pieces of antlers from small deer.  Neat stuff!  dave 

Thank you, Dave. I should have labeled that better. I just liked the texture of those antler bases so much that I wanted to showcase them. Many of the things that I find at Edisto are first time finds for me as I usually focus on micros. I have added to my description, thanks.

 

[Fossildude19]

Great report, Julianna! Thanks for the field trip.  

Great variety, weather and company make for the best of days, in my opinion.  

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2 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

Great report, Julianna! Thanks for the field trip.  

Great variety, weather and company make for the best of days, in my opinion.  

Thanks, Tim! Yup, we had all of the major components of a great trip! 

[RJB]

Some very old antlers.  How cool is that!

 

RB