Obsidian alike skull?

[DennisRND]

Hello there, 
since i dont know anything about fossils in general i'd like to ask for a first opinion, if the 'stone' i found could be some kind of fossil.
the interesting fact about this is, that i'm 99% sure that this is some kind of biological mass turned into stone, because it fits every aspect a small jaw, including nerves, teeth and the bone.
Im curious about the material (what it turned into) and how old it might be.
Thank you  

[Kane]

Welcome to the Forum.  

 

From these pictures, I would say nature is a bit of a trickster, and that it really is piece of obsidian with no biological origin. Where one can see what appears to be tooth sockets would likely be fractures in the rock. I'm sure some of our vertebrate specialists will be along to provide their opinions shortly. 

[DennisRND]

1 minute ago, Kane said:

Welcome to the Forum.  

 

From these pictures, I would say nature is a bit of a trickster, and that it really is piece of obsidian with no biological origin. Where one can see what appears to be tooth sockets would likely be fractures in the rock. I'm sure some of our vertebrate specialists will be along to provide their opinions shortly. 

Thank you for your quick answer
But what is that yeallowish transparent material that looked to me like remains of nerves (best to see in the picture from 'behind')?
 

[Kane]

I think that may be a feature of the rock, but let me tag our geology guru @ynot who can probably identify the yellowish, glassy bits. 

[ynot]

I agree with a piece of obsidian, no fossil.

Obsidian often has impurities in it. These can be from minerals in the lava before it cooled off or from decomposition of the obsidian after it cooled off.

Would have to have a SEM test done to determine what mineral(s) are there.

[DeepTimeIsotopes]

1 hour ago, ynot said:

I agree with a piece of obsidian, no fossil.

Obsidian often has impurities in it. These can be from minerals in the lava before it cooled off or from decomposition of the obsidian after it cooled off.

Would have to have a SEM test done to determine what mineral(s) are there.

May also be obsidian hydration where the obsidian develops a rind of specific hydrated minerals. Basically chemical weathering for obsidian.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weathering_rind

[Plax]

Flint for me.

[facehugger]

Obsidian is igneous. Volcanic glass. Igneous rocks very rarely contain fossils due to formation processes (lava). Sedimentary rock is generally where fossils are found. 

[Rockwood]

Hark !

I hear a call for some geographic information on this one. ' should help sort flint from obsidian. 

[Plax]

I assumed Germany and flint because there are so many flint deposits in the chalks of Britain and Europe. I have black flint that breaks with a conchoidal fracture just like this. It sometimes has fossils in it. Either we had this discussion recently or I'm losing my marbles. Probably the latter...

[ynot]

@DennisRND

It could be a piece of flint, or possibly a chunk of tar/asphalt.

Can You scratch it with a knife?

Where was it found?

[DennisRND]

It was found like 2 meters under ground in the teutoburg forest in Western Germany. I picked it up because first I liked the shiny look of it, there was no other stones like this anywhere nearby. I kept it till today, but a few days ago I looked at it again and somehow compared the form to a jaw bone, but the material didn't fit a single fossil I ever saw before. I see there is no one thinking that its some remaining of biological mass, so I'll keep it as the shiny pice of (flint/Obsidian?) like i previously did 

Thank you for your help everyone! 

[ynot]

1 hour ago, DennisRND said:

2 meters under ground in the teutoburg forest in Western Germany.......(flint/Obsidian?)

From where it was found it is 99.999% sure it is flint. There is no naturally occuring obsidian in Germany.

[Plax]

2 hours ago, DennisRND said:

It was found like 2 meters under ground in the teutoburg forest in Western Germany. I picked it up because first I liked the shiny look of it, there was no other stones like this anywhere nearby. I kept it till today, but a few days ago I looked at it again and somehow compared the form to a jaw bone, but the material didn't fit a single fossil I ever saw before. I see there is no one thinking that its some remaining of biological mass, so I'll keep it as the shiny pice of (flint/Obsidian?) like i previously did 

Thank you for your help everyone! 

Dennis, Keep in mind that we are all guessing (or most of us) and the forum is really good, but still opinion. When we come from an area that has obsidian we would see a similarity to obsidian and say that as a guess. This guess would seem reasonable to the person offering the ID but to someone who knows flints/cherts and the provenance of the specimen this would naturally be considered a flint. On the other hand you could have said that you bought this at a rock shop and all guesses would be up in the air. You can see how the specific provenance was essential with your specimen. Your specimen is probably part of a fossiliferous deposit. If there are smooth round or roundish heavy rocks in the same deposit they could be unbroken flints as the exterior rind is often gray or white. I'd definitely look around there if the sediment is still available. The material is valuable to flint knappers as well.