todays find...need help identifying

[luvmymushpups]

I have been finding many bones along the Yukon River near my home.  the river flooded this spring and cut the bank away.  It reached highwater again with the rain but is now going down and washed away some more sand and dirt. I found this today. . A different place from the other, but nearby.   I found this  in the sand. I think it is bone but not completely sure about that because it is thick and heavy. I tried to get a scale but it was hard with just me to hold everything while taking pictures. can you help me with the ID

Edited September 17, 2023 by luvmymushpups

[johnnyvaldez7.jv]

Looks like bone to me. I think pictures of the edges would best confirm it.  The 1st picture...left side... looks like it would have been a bison skull and where the horn came out of but not sure. But other pictures would help for sure.  Cool find!

[luvmymushpups]

[luvmymushpups]

[luvmymushpups]

[luvmymushpups]

[johnnyvaldez7.jv]

This looks like the interior of bone.  It's a big piece and to me it looks like a skull piece to something large. I like the colors of it. Sometimes heavy can mean mineralized which means it could have some age to it but it's a big, thick piece so it's expected.  I'm not sure how the preservation is there but looking at it closely it seems to have hair still on it? Is that right?  I watch a lot of videos about fossil hunters finding things from the permafrost up north and some of that stuff is incredible. 

[luvmymushpups]

26 minutes ago, johnnyvaldez7.jv said:

This looks like the interior of bone.  It's a big piece and to me it looks like a skull piece to something large. I like the colors of it. Sometimes heavy can mean mineralized which means it could have some age to it but it's a big, thick piece so it's expected.  I'm not sure how the preservation is there but looking at it closely it seems to have hair still on it? Is that right?  I watch a lot of videos about fossil hunters finding things from the permafrost up north and some of that stuff is incredible. 

the bones i have been finding were under a bank that washed away. from pictures from last summer it looks like about 30 to 50 feet of bank was cut back from the rapid river and we are about 20 feet lower from the road. but it did slope down. we have a lot of permafrost here and temps are below freezing half of the year. 

[luvmymushpups]

1 hour ago, johnnyvaldez7.jv said:

This looks like the interior of bone.  It's a big piece and to me it looks like a skull piece to something large. I like the colors of it. Sometimes heavy can mean mineralized which means it could have some age to it but it's a big, thick piece so it's expected.  I'm not sure how the preservation is there but looking at it closely it seems to have hair still on it? Is that right?  I watch a lot of videos about fossil hunters finding things from the permafrost up north and some of that stuff is incredible. 

it does have stuff on it...i have not cleaned it other then rinseing it in water. im not sure what is on it but it had been burried but it was exposed when i found it.( the law here is we can only take what is on the surface so i cant dig anything up. ) so i have to wait for the river to wash the dirt away.  we just highwater from rain so more sedament was washed away.

[luvmymushpups]

1 hour ago, johnnyvaldez7.jv said:

This looks like the interior of bone.  It's a big piece and to me it looks like a skull piece to something large. I like the colors of it. Sometimes heavy can mean mineralized which means it could have some age to it but it's a big, thick piece so it's expected.  I'm not sure how the preservation is there but looking at it closely it seems to have hair still on it? Is that right?  I watch a lot of videos about fossil hunters finding things from the permafrost up north and some of that stuff is incredible. 

it does have stuff on it...i have not cleaned it other then rinseing it in water. im not sure what is on it but it had been burried but it was exposed when i found it.( the law here is we can only take what is on the surface so i cant dig anything up. ) so i have to wait for the river to wash the dirt away.  we just highwater from rain so more sedament was washed away

[luvmymushpups]

7/8 socket to show how thick the bone is and with scale

[CDiggs]

I do agree that this looks to be a big fragment of a much larger skull, but I really don't think those are hairs and are more likely to be small plant roots.

[trilobites_are_awesome]

A brain case of some kind.

[Brandy Cole]

I think bison would be a strong possibility.

[luvmymushpups]

I sent the photos to the curator of the mammal collection at the Museum of the North in Fairbanks. They were unable to identify it from the photos and want me to bring it in. They thought it was a skull fragment  from something larger but to small to fit a mammoth. I will be taking it in in a few weeks

[digit]

Please remember to keep us in the loop. We're curious too and would enjoy learning the results of the in-hand diagnosis.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[luvmymushpups]

On 10/2/2023 at 3:03 AM, digit said:

Please remember to keep us in the loop. We're curious too and would enjoy learning the results of the in-hand diagnosis.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

i will...I live in a remote fly-in-only community. my friend took it in to town this week and my son will be taking it into UAF museum of the north soon.

[ClearLake]

To me, this looks like a portion of a skull (as has been mentioned) but more specifically, the projection on the lower right of this photo looks like the stump of a shed antler.  Obviously, this would have to be something large, like a moose.  What is the diameter of that "stump", maybe it is too large to be that but that is what it reminds me of?  I would need to hold it in hand with an intact skull to see if the shape lines up to feel certain.  

 

 

 

I copied this image off the web to show what the antler stump on a moose looks like (Obviously you have to remove the antlers in your mind).  

[luvmymushpups]

On 10/14/2023 at 4:22 PM, ClearLake said:

To me, this looks like a portion of a skull (as has been mentioned) but more specifically, the projection on the lower right of this photo looks like the stump of a shed antler.  Obviously, this would have to be something large, like a moose.  What is the diameter of that "stump", maybe it is too large to be that but that is what it reminds me of?  I would need to hold it in hand with an intact skull to see if the shape lines up to feel certain.  

 

 

 

I copied this image off the web to show what the antler stump on a moose looks like (Obviously you have to remove the antlers in your mind).  

i can see how this could match up as moose.