I know what this bone is!

Jesse Latham

Jesse Latham

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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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This is from an estate of a person who lived in Alaska for many years. It's big, heavy and hard. But can be cut with a Porta band and ground on the 2x72.

 
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Looks to big and dense for that. I think it is perhaps a piece from a scapula or pelvis from a large mammal. Perhaps mammoth or wooly bison, or any of the large marine mammals. Other large animals are moose, caribou, muskox.
 
I have a walrus flipper that is about 14" long and about 4" X 6". Very dense
 
The large end is about 9x11, it's 20 inches long.the hole doesn't go all the way through. Just a little way from the small end.
 
The hole may be where a tusk was attached.
 
Jesse Latham said:
This is from an estate of a person who lived in Alaska for many years. It's big, heavy and hard. But can be cut with a Porta band and ground on the 2x72.

Click to expand...

Where in Alaska? I recommend you take it into a museum or university to be checked out. I used to work in paleontology, and the element looks very much like the head of a femur of a very large animal, quite possibly one that is extinct. Please don't cut or alter it, it could ruin potentially important scientific data (predator marks, erosion, radiocarbon contamination, etc.)
 
I checked with a paleontologist friend of mine, who says: "It looks very much like a femur head to a very big animal, bison sized or larger. I would strongly encourage whoever has that to bring it to university or museum in case it is important."

Chris
 
A different paleontologist friend of mine says it is definitely not a flipper bone, and much larger than a bison. She thinks it is probably a mammoth or mastodon.

Chris

ETA: and if it was found in Alaska, it is more likely to be a mammoth than a mastodon.
 
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The cross cut view looks a lot like a mammoth pelvis section I have. But, all fossil ice age mammal bones look pretty similar in cross section. From the size, I would still go with mammoth or whale.

Whatever it is, there is little need to worry about ruining a valuable fossil, as it has already been cut and modified. I assume the round hole was where it sat on a stud on a display base. Fossil mammoth bone pieces are pretty common in Alaska/Canada/WA.

I cut a bunch of scales from my piece and it makes nice handles. It polishes with a slightly pink/tan tone.
 
The round hole is natural most likely a nerve/blood channel. The smaller end (has the hole) narrows a lot. Much smaller than what I would think of for a leg bone of this size. This is a picture of the small end.
 
I heard back from a third paleontologist, who thinks it is either part of a whale forelimb, or the humorous of a large herbivore.

Chris
 
OK, I see now. The second photo in the first post looked like a drill hole with a pilot. Seeing the rest of the bone helps a lot. Femur, scapula and pelvis are all out.

I looked up some anatomical references and I would bet on a whale humerus (often improperly called a flipper bone).
 
I've been searching as well but haven't found any pictures of the whale humorous with the hole. But due to the size of the smaller end I think that is most likely. I have sent an email to Mark Knapp and am awaiting a reply. Thanks to everyone for the help. Jess
 
I received a reply from Mark Knapp. I thought he would know what I have and I was correct. "Hi Jesse, That is the end of a whale jaw bone. You are allowed to buy, sell or trade it. You can make knives with it if you like and sell them but you cannot sell them across state lines, only within your state. Hope this helps, Mark"
Thanks Mark for your knowledge. Jesse
 
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