Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Ice Age


This post is sort of an addendum to my earlier one about the allure of the local rock shop. In my quest to become a better rock hound, generally, I've been scouting out more rock and fossil venues lately. I haven't had much luck finding nice dino bone or coprolite beads yet, but I did score this unusual strand recently. I actually came across it on my own while browsing through attractive strands of jasper and quartz beads. I thought they were interestingly tactile (it doesn't come across well in the photo - the beads have great texture) but hadn't the faintest idea what they were. I ended up getting distracted by some beautiful polished ammonite halves and put them back without making an inquiry.

Fortunately, when I checked out with the items I had put on my tray, I asked about the dino and corprolite beads and received this reply: "If we could find good quality ones, we would definitely buy them, but they're actually pretty hard to come by. [Pause.] We do have mammoth bone beads, though. Would you be interested in those?"

I love stuff like this. I found the beads intriguing before knowing what they were, but the fact that they are actually fossilized mammoth bone (and I should point out that they are mammoth bone and not mammoth ivory) makes them irresistible to someone like me. So, I say again - check out your local rock shop. You never know what you'll find.

Thanks for visiting.

6 comments:

barbe said...

so jealous! those look amazing!!! we have no rock shops here anymore.

JenniferJangles said...

Oh those are cool, can't wait to see what you make with them.
Jennifer Jangles

SueBeads said...

Very cool! I bought some fossil ivory (walrus) beads in Alaska, because the indigenous (sp.?) people are allowed to use bones and ivory dug out of the ground for subsistence living, and they make part of their living by using fossil ivory to make beads and jewelry!

Melissa J. Lee said...

Aren't they neat? I think I have to do a whole fossil-themed piece with these... Sue, I still envy your fossil ivory bead find!

Anonymous said...

I love to work with fossil material. Tuscon Bead has not only dinosaur bone and coprolite beads but also Turritella--fossil shells in a dark matrix. I bought some of these to make a gift for a friend. Fossils make great "guy gift" beading materials.

http://tucsonbead.com/usstones.aspx

Melissa J. Lee said...

Oh, thanks for the tip!