how to clean fossil bones that are black

[mnruxpin]

so i have several lake and river bones that are pitch black, is there a good way to try to lighten them??

 

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[CaptEsteban]

Soaking in white vinegar will lighten those .

 

[CaptEsteban]

Soak a day at a time, rinse with plenty of clear water , til they get as light as you want. The color of the fossils come from the soil that they have been laying in for many years.

 

[tamrock]

Well if I'd a seen your post before last Friday, I could've asked one of the dealers who specialize in fossils at the Denver Gem and Mineral show on the best techniques to clean and preserve old bones. This was the skeleton of a very tall cave bear for sale. I forgot to note what they were asking, but did see fossils with price tags of $50K +on more than a few items found there.

 

[CaptEsteban]

A dive friend of mine once found the skull & a few other bones from one in the Suwannee River , years ago.

 

[tamrock]

A dive friend of mine once found the skull & a few other bones from one in the Suwannee River , years ago.

Back in the early 1990s I was flying down to Alachua Florida from Denver every two weeks to work a deal there for 6 months. On one of my stay over weekends me and a coworker took a canoe trip down the Suwanee River. We paddled into a crystal clear water spring and it was so clear the fish running ahead of us looked like they were flying in the air just above the sandy surface as it appeared there was no water between the bottom of the canoe and the shallow bottom of that crystal clear water spring.

 

[CaptEsteban]

There are many springs like that.

 

[tamrock]

There are many springs like that.

Yeah, they're wonderful to see. Only found in Florida I assume in the US?