mummified petrified skull of a ?

[boomer46901]

I found this mummified or petrified skull in dirt dredged from a ditch in central Indiana. It is solid rock. It is about the size of a half dollar coin. You can see the eye sockets, nasal cavity, and teeth on one side. the teeth have turned to crystal. Do you know what this is or the age of it? Any questions?

 

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[boomer46901]

picture 2

 

[boomer46901]

picture 3

 

[bakergeol]

Sure lug some interesting rocks back there Boomer. It is probably Limestone. A closeup of the "teeth" should tell you what you have. Now don't take offense this is just my initial impression but probably not a skull. Could those teeth be a Cephalopod?

George

 

[mojjax]

Cool ! maybe a turtle head?

 

[boomer46901]

If they are teeth, they seem to be in a row. I am not certain turtles had teeth in a row like that. I am reasonably sure it is or was a skull of something. I have another from the same spot that is similar, but in much poorer condition. It does have similar teeth, eye and nasal socket, etc. It is also the same material.

 

[Michelle]

......http://www.digimorph.org/listbysubgroup.phtml?grp=Bat&sort=SpeciesName Small dog...puppy or fox guessing http://www.skullsunlimited.com/chow-chow-skull.html http://www.skullsunlimited.com/rodentia.html may even be a rodent http://www.skullsunlimited.com/graphics/BC-187-lg.jpg or even a baby bear cub hard to say

 

[boomer46901]

can't see teh front teeth..that makes it hard

 

[Blind.In.Texas]

Hey that sure is neat, but, I don't think it is a skull either, even though it looks like one. I can not imagine teeth turning into crystal. Also there is no jawbone, yet, it has teeth? Enamel will not turn into crystal. Crystals grow in place of cavities. The eye sockets are uneven and the left side of "it" has the appearance of swelling and deformation. What you have is an attempt, by someone, to make something appear from nothing. The eye sockets are conical in shape and half open from the front to the back. No separable jawbone. Someone had a talented hand and saw something in that rock that no one else did. He/she made something really neat from it. GL

Laater...

 

[boomer46901]

I had a college archaeologist student look at it. He suggested the crystal probably grew inthe cavity as well when the teeth eroded away. He did think it was a skull though. He suggested that it mummified first causing the irregularities, and then fossilized. Who knows? Anyway its fun to try to guess.

 

[Montana Jim]

Did someone already suggest that it may have been an infant or unborn and therefore underdeveloped skull?

Update: Michelle... I agree... looked like the bear skull from the site you posted

It looks like a skull, but no-way to tell from just those pics... I would be interested in finding out what an actual-professional-study would indicate!

Do you plan to have it inspected boomer?

 

[Michelle]

yep....me too 8)

 

[stevemc]

It seems to be a petrified skull. It looks like some kind of reptile. Things that are petrified turn to stone, and yes, can be crystalized. I have found many fossils that were crystalized. Nice find what ever it is! Steve.

 

[Montana Jim]

boomer...

Just for kicks, and for those of us wondering, please post pics of the bottom, left side, and top of that thing if you can?

That would be super...

 

[boomer46901]

I'll post those tomorrow. I posted the best shots here as this side looks the best..I'll put the other side up soon as requested

 

[romeo-1]

Weird....looking forward to a professional opinion on this one!

 

[Gribnitz]

very cool. I would say most definately a fossilized skull. Looks like a rodent skull. If it were a lizard, it would have sharp pointy teeth. Fossils can calcify into just about any materials, including crystal. I have found several old shell fossils with crystal in them. It just depends on what mineral leached in to replace the bone.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Definitely a fossilized skull.

 

[TreasureTales]

This is purely a guess, as are many of my posts in the "What Is It?" category. Anaconda skull (yes, I know it was found in America, but maybe huge snakes were prevelent in America when this thing was alive).

 

[Michelle]

Arent the teeth angled different.and bigger..or are they teeth on the pic in ?...?