Ancient human femure

The first image shows a horse radius, and bovine tibia i found not far from the mineralized Human femur, as with almost all the bone i either excavate or just find after flooding in the becks, there was no visible evidence of attention from animals or insects, or the elements.

The images below show an ancient mineralised human male femur it is unusually large and robust.

 Today identified by Anthropologists from Teeside university,  i believe it was washed from the Stainton gravel beds as with the majority of the fossil bone i find and excavate directly from the gravel beds.

The gravel beds have been dated by geologists as over 20 thousand years old, so if ime right this would  make this and other excavated human bone from deep inside the packed ancient Stainton gravel beds, from a time in our past when this area was not supposed to have trees, never mind horses - bovine -  and last but not least humans.  .

When found not far from Stainton village south west Cleveland, the shaft was full of hardened white minerals, maybee calcite. there was no visible damage to the surface of the bone, or evidence of attention from animals or insects. And as with most of the mineralized bone i find in the deep beck valleys of south west Cleveland there was no visible damage by the sun (heat) or water, nore was there any algae attached.

 

Stainton gravel beds found and excavated at another location.

These images show my latest discovery of the Stainton gravel beds, and excavation.

The image above shows the start of the excavation, the gravel bed can clearly be seen. The image below shows how flat the Stainton gravel beds are, and as at my other excavations covered with separate almost stoneless alluvial deposits.

The image above and below shows the excavation as i discovered a bone it looks to be a fibula piece but as yet i can not id it.

The end of today's excavation only one bone was found and no fossils, but as at Stainton and all the other excavations the bed was full of unrounded whinstone.

The geological layers at this location are as follows-

Red- brown loamy friable almost stoneless clay

Blue grey stoneless sandy clay containing organic material, average thickness 150 mm .

Stainton gravel bed average thickness 400 mm

Red plastic almost stoneless clay containing well preserved fossils.

 

New mandible find with turquoise teeth colouration.

The images show the mandible washed and dried, nothing more.