surface find----gastropod fossil with decorative carving

[Old Bern]

 

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[Kray Gelder]

Welcome. Part of it resembles a gastropod, not so sure it is. The flat part with lines...resembles nothing. Pic of other side?

 

[newnan man]

Not an artifact in my opinion.

 

[Tony in SC]

Since it was on top of the ground, it could be something modern?

 

[Old Bern]

I am new on website . Having a little trouble with inserting pics. the other side of the fossil is the same but some of the bone like material is broken off but you can see a little of the engraving.

 

[Old Bern]

It was buried originally. I was doing some digging nearby. After a few days and a rainfall, It was in plain view.

 

[Fred250]

Cool and weird whatever it is, I like it.

 

[smokeythecat]

Cool weird is right. Try to flip it around and get a few more pics.

 

[flinthunter]

It looks a lot like resin. Could it be a modern cast of the inside of a shell? Heat a needle red hot and touch it to the piece. If it melts into the piece, it's probably resin. If it's stone, the needle shouldn't hurt it.

 

[Old Bern]

I now think it could be some sort of bone/ skull fragment with antler or horn growth base?

 

[Old Bern]

another pic Piece is 2 nches long

 

[Thirdeyeartifactguy]

Weird find. Hope you have luck identifying. I would do what the other person suggested with the hot needle and seeing if that does anything to it. The pourous nature of the piece does resemble bone. The lines that appear to be etched into it are odd and I have no insight as to what is happening there.

 

[sandchip]

May be wrong here, but it looks like resin to me too. The lines in what looks like a moth or butterfly wing look like they were scribed in the still soft material before curing or maybe in the model the mold was made from. Weird piece for sure.

 

[A2coins]

Interesting looks like a decorative recent type of thing maybe got broke

 

[Red-Coat]

It's not clear from the pictures whether it is actually a continuous spiral as you would find in a 'snail-like' gastropod shell or a series of cushion-like structures butted together in the manner of a tiered wedding cake. The answer is important in determining what it might be. The close-up structure most resembles a coralline sponge and that could certainly grow in 'tiered wedding cake' fashion.

For sure it isn't an artefact and I don't think there is any man-made 'carving' on it. There are a number of organisms which can leave feeding traces that look like carved lines in limestone/carbonate-type reef fossils and I would suspect that's what the marks on the 'bottom' are.

 

[sandchip]

The reason I lean towards the lines being formed by scribing in either the uncured material or in the making of the model from which a mold was made is that if you zoom in on those lines, you will see where the material was displaced outward and upward, leaving a very slight ridge on either side of the incised lines, a feature that would not be present if those lines had been etched. Still unsure, however, on how the sponge looking features were formed on the other part. Odd piece for sure.

Went back and looked more closely at the "shell" looking part and more convinced that although it's not an "artifact" in the traditional sense, it is manmade, but a recent, likely resin, item. The spongy looking area appears to be made by the tip of a something with a profile like a pencil tip that needs shapening repeatedly being stuck in the still soft material. If you stand the item up with the tip of the "shell" pointing up, each little mark could've been formed by sticking the tip in a downward motion.

I know one thing. I've looked at this thing too long.

 

[Older The Better]

I’d say it was an imprint of mud cracks that kind of form in that pattern. but if it’s a mold they would be projecting from the base not sinking in.

 

[Old Bern]

True. I don't think it is a gastropod. The body of it is not in a spiral. I will research the 'coralline sponge'. Thanks

 

[The Grim Reaper]

The reason I lean towards the lines being formed by scribing in either the uncured material or in the making of the model from which a mold was made is that if you zoom in on those lines, you will see where the material was displaced outward and upward, leaving a very slight ridge on either side of the incised lines, a feature that would not be present if those lines had been etched. Still unsure, however, on how the sponge looking features were formed on the other part. Odd piece for sure.

Went back and looked more closely at the "shell" looking part and more convinced that although it's not an "artifact" in the traditional sense, it is manmade, but a recent, likely resin, item. The spongy looking area appears to be made by the tip of a something with a profile like a pencil tip that needs shapening repeatedly being stuck in the still soft material. If you stand the item up with the tip of the "shell" pointing up, each little mark could've been formed by sticking the tip in a downward motion.

I know one thing. I've looked at this thing too long.

i noticed that as well on the lines. I tend to agree it is made from resin and not very old. Most likely just a decorative knick knack of some kind.

 

[Georgivs]

Reminds me of a cast resin "dragon skull" that my brother had, when it fell and broke it had some weird crazing on the inside from the casting process. I would try the needle test to be sure it's stone.