(Mystery?)Bone find, Goodhue County, Minnesota 

St. Peter Sandstone along Prairie Creek in Goodhue County, Minnesota, July 2005
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Black clay/silt typical at excavation site.

We have asked the Bell Museum of Natural History at the University of Minnesota to take a look at these images for indentification (I was thinking 'moose'). In the meantime Minnesota's Office of The State Archeologist suggests 'bison' (see last 2 images,below)

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Bone set - Note: left lateral view of frag of jaw #2 above full left jaw #1
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Bone set (image 1 enlarged) left jaw #1 in right lateral view and jaw frag #2 in left lateral view

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Bone set (image 2) In this image the smaller jaw frag #2
is now in right lateral view (teeth are loose as reflected in subsequent views...)
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front leg bone "spur" ?
detail (side a)
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Bone set, comparison of left jaws #1, #2
in left lateral view

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Bone set, comparison of left jaws #1, #2
in right lateral view
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Bone set (image 3) - generally just flipped the bones over...

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Bone set (image 4) same as image 3, except moved a few around
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Bone set (image 4 enlarged) showing full left jaw #1 in left lateral view and frag of jaw #2 in right lateral view.
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front leg bone "spur"?
detail (side b)
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jaw #1, #2 comparison
detail A
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dentition detail (jaw #1)

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leg bone? frag #1
ventral view
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leg bone? frag #1
dorsal view
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leg bone? frag #1
dorsal view - detail
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Bone set misc pieces
: the 'black' pieces are spongy bone with 'hinge' surfaces of hard bone, still wet from washing; the 'reddish-brown' in lower right corner are 'chalky' bone fragments; the 'whiteish' pieces are 'spongy' to 'clanky' crushed bone fragments. The grayish 'strips' are misc bone and rib fragments.*
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jaw #1 right lateral detail
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jaw #1 left lateral detail
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Misc pickings typical of site (July 12 2005): clay, silt, sand, tree log section, bone frags, snail shells, possible bird egg shell in silt, rare pebbles. (Also incl. clams from creek bed not found in excavation).
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elk skeleton - note lack of curvature of ventral edge of the jaw as well as the angle between the tooth line and the front face of the vertical part of the jaw bone. Also, front leg bone 'spur' seems different.
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elk skeleton 2 (internet) - note right angle between tooth line and front side of vertical portion of the jaw*
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white tail deer skeleton - hard to see much, but note the sharp right angle of the jaw versus the tooth line (same observation as for elk jaw). Also, front leg bone 'spur' looks different.
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Ohio elk bones from Ice Age (internet) - closer to our specimen regarding the angle between the tooth line and the front face of the vertical part of the jaw bone. Overall, our jaw specimen is more massive, otherwise lots of similarities.*
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moose skeleton (internet) - note bone 'spur' on front leg bones; in photo by 'red bucket'*
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moose skeleton detail (fresh, Isle Royal - internet)*
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moose skeleton teeth (Isle Royal, internet); note 3 front teeth differ from back teeth.*
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bison mandibles
- I added these 2 bison skeleton downloads at the suggestion of Bruce Koenen of the Office of the State Archeologist - Minnesota. Thanks, Bruce*
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bison radius-ulna
what I tagged 'spur', in my images (above), is actually the "olecranon tuber"
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