flyg Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 I've been going through some unknowns from various past hunts and here is one mystery. This piece looks like it should be familiar and I feel like I've seen it somewhere. This object is about 5.5 cm on longest dimension. It is hard/mineral--not modern bone. It was found in stream gravels at a site that is nearly pure marine Oligocene. Some Pleistocene material is theoretically possible, but I've never found it here. The site is richly fossiliferous with a variety of vertebrate/invertebrate material. Common vertebrates include: sharks/rays/sawfish, bony fish, turtles, crocodilians, toothed/baleen whales, manatee/dugong. My best guess is that it is a ceremonial helmet, once worn by ancient tiny gnomes during demonic rituals. On the off chance I'm wrong about this, who has another idea? It could be a modern human artifact for all I know, but it looks bony and has a foramen-looking hole that brings to mind words like "neural", "vertebral", or "cranial". Thanks for looking. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bone guy Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 4 minutes ago, flyg said: My best guess is that it is a ceremonial helmet Ha! That's what I thought it was at first glance...my guess is manmade, but I have no idea what it would be used for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Very interesting............Hhhmmm? I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 First thing I thought of was a football (American football) kicking tee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 The gnome helmet idea is probably correct. Always go with your first impressions. Actually, that's a terrible idea. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bone guy Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 33 minutes ago, Peat Burns said: First thing I thought of was a football (American football) kicking tee Great observation! It makes sense, because what else would it possibly be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Do a burn test on it. I think Peat is right. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyg Posted May 22, 2018 Author Share Posted May 22, 2018 Good ideas. It is reminiscent of a football tee, but it is too small and of the wrong material I think. But that is probably along the right lines since none of you instantly recognized it as a fossil. It is pretty singular. I did a burn test and it does not burn, nor produce any odor. If it isn't bone, it is certainly something like ceramic. It is very hard and clinks like glass. I don't see any mold lines, but it is quite worn by water. Old insulator? clay pipe piece? ornamental bathroom ceramic? Thanks for the ideas. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hipockets Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Looks similar to a chamber cast from a cephlapod of sort. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Hipockets is right, it is a chamber from Aturia, a nautiloid. This is a very nice example. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyg Posted May 22, 2018 Author Share Posted May 22, 2018 Oooh. I like that idea a lot. I've never found any kind of nautiloid, but the main exposure here is packed with bivalve and gastropod molds, so the preservation setting is right. Very interesting. Thanks. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 5 " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vieira Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Looks like a Nautilus section indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyg Posted May 22, 2018 Author Share Posted May 22, 2018 Very nice. I'm excited about an entire new class of animal for me at this site. My first cephalopod find. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 A fossil so strange most think it isn’t one, nice find! “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 +1 for Aturia, have also seen Hercoglossa for some of these Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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