It's A Fossil! But, What?!

[Pointdexter]

While I pride myself on my surface hunting for archeological finds, that's primarily Indian artifacts we're talking. When I find something like this, I could really use the help with what it is exactly I'm dealing with here. While my Dad had been hoping it was a wooly mammoth tooth, I've had others tell me things from plant to clam, so, I don't know. It's apparently hematite, and picked up in Mercer County, western PA. Anybody out there have a clue?

[tomclark]

looks like Mammoth enamel plate to me.

[toccopola]

i have never seen in hand a chunk of mammoth plate so i might be wrong with my choice but i think its a chunk of a giant beaver tooth.

[Pointdexter]

Thank you both for your two cents! You best believe I'l be looking into this, and now I know some searches to make.

[toccopola]

here is a news article about a jaw with a tooth found in Manitoba that shows a good picture. i found this by google-- ice age beaver, it on the 3 or 4 th page. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...toba-1.4397894

[Benji]

Idk....but based on pic in above article link.....looks like it could be ancient beaver tooth.....I go back out and look for that ancient tail

[Bone2stone]

This material predates the mammoth & Beaver theory.
Looks to be hematite (Iron)
West PA....Hmmm
Lets go back to ~300 million years.
This specimen was most likely flora not fauna.
Horsetail (Stem)

Bone2stone

[Pointdexter]

Thanks Bone2Bone. I did have it looked at by a fossil expert who agreed it's hematite and a piece of some sort of plant, explaining that there should be more around the area I picked it up at.