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Jul 24, 2012, 10:46 AM
#1
Tooth?
Can someone ID this piece for me? Wondering if it is a tooth or part of one. It is also in my next post of the fossil pieces I found today.
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Jul 24, 2012 10:46 AM
# ADS
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Jul 24, 2012, 11:45 AM
#2

Originally Posted by
BeachComber7
Can someone ID this piece for me? Wondering if it is a tooth or part of one. It is also in my next post of the fossil pieces I found today.
It certainly looks like a portion of a tooth, Joan. Perhaps a horse upper, but an occlusal view (the grinding surface) would be helpful in a more confident ID.
A stiff brush might remove the debris.
I might soak this tooth fragment in straight white vinegar for an hour or less to loosen the cemented sand and shell. A brief vinegar bath won't hurt the enamel and dentin of the tooth. If the calcium carbonate is the only thing holding the tooth together, I would let it dry then glue it back together.
If the tooth is too splintered or too fragile to clean up, I would go look for a stronger example -- there are many horse teeth yet to be collected. Good hunting!
Sometimes I go about pitying myself, and all the time
I am being carried on great winds across the sky.
------Chippewa saying, translated by Robert Bly
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Jul 24, 2012, 11:52 AM
#3
Thanks Harry! Think I'll give the vinegar a try, see if I can clean it up some. If it IS a tooth or part of one, it's my very first.