minnbuckeye Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 Two nights ago, a local farmer called me all excited and wanted to show me the fossils he found in the cow pasture. The local TV station had already aired a segment on his finds. This is a view of his farm. The location of finds were behind the buildings up on the hill This is what it looked like as we approached. I explained the geology to Bill. The upper rock layers were Platteville/ Ordovician underlain by sandstone. I told him there was nothing with "teeth" way back then. Everything was covered in a sea. We live in a driftless area, meaning the glacial advancement did not touch this area. So the teeth would likely be ice age to present. We then went in to look at his findings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted July 13, 2019 Author Share Posted July 13, 2019 The first box he opened had arrowheads, some large pieces of pearly shell, a piece of pottery, and two larger items that he felt were used by the Indians to grind with. The teeth in question were found in amongst the arrowheads and other artifacts at the base of the pictured hill. Now the teeth. They seemed heavier than I anticipated and appeared to have some mineral deposited on them. We tried the flame test and no strong stench was noted. Any help in determining what he found would be greatly appreciated. Probably a cow that died on the farm and was just buried there. We are hoping an Indian butchered buffalo??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted July 13, 2019 Author Share Posted July 13, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 All horse, Equus sp., in all likelihood. 1 http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 Maybe they buried a warrior's/chief's horse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyw Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 Pottery,arrowheads, horse teeth, grinding stones, shell, were all used as trade goods or decoration by the ancient native people. Personally I suspect he found a native burial spot where the body either didn’t survive or hasn’t been found yet. They are found from time to time...Ojibwa especially used horse teeth for decorations, necklaces or trade goods. Horses went extinct in America between 8000-12000 years ago and were brought back in about the 16th century so they are either older or younger then that.... (my wife is Native American) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted July 17, 2019 Author Share Posted July 17, 2019 Thanks for the wonderful opinions. The farmer will be happy to have a bit of understanding. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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