(April 2024) UPDATE : I have a new batch of this material available. Each purchase is for a USPS Medium Flat Rate box loaded with matrix.
The Bone Valley formation is located along the Peace River in Florida. This area is world-famous for it's rich deposits of Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene fossils. The entire length of the Peace River is prime fossil-hunting grounds, but the Bone Valley localities are the "sweet spot" for high quality fossils. Countless Megalodon, Mammoth, Sabre-tooth Cat, and Mastodon fossils have been recovered from Bone Valley.
In addition to large fossils, the Peace River also produces some of the best micro-fossils. One particular spot is well-known to locals (and visitors) for producing dense concentrations of micro-fossils. On a past fossil-hunting trip, we found a layer of exposed strata that was very rich in micro-matrix. I recovered many kilograms of this material. It is composed of a wide range of components, ranging from tiny marine fossil shells to large cobbles and fossils. There is also a lot of small rocks, pebbles, and bone fragments. Most of the fossils in this material date from the middle-Miocene to early Pliocene periods.
This material is well above the water line of the river (except during extreme floods), so the fossils found in this material have beautiful coloration compared to the black-colored specimens recovered from the river. I have found some gorgeous blue megalodon teeth in this micro-matrix. Bone fragments are creamy white.
I am offering chunks of this material for collectors, educators, and paleontologists. This is raw material recovered directly from the locality and shipped to you in USPS Priority boxes. All of these chunks were broken off from larger, boulder-sized, pieces - so the components range in size from tiny to large, despite the size of the chunk itself. You are absolutely guaranteed to find micro-fossils, shark teeth, bone fragments, and other specimens in these chunks.
My advice for breaking these up is this : be slow and careful. You can wet the chunk and that will make it fall apart easily, since this material is quite friable. Carefully crumble the material and sift the pieces to look for fossils. Tiny perfect fossils can be found if you pick apart the smaller pieces with dental tools or similar precision instruments. I also suggest screening the sandy-pebbly components with a fine mesh screen to filter out the sand and tiniest shell fragments.
Refer to the photos. Note, the megalodon teeth shown in the photos was recovered from this same material from the same locality. I cannot guarantee you will find big megalodon teeth in every chunk, but it is possible to find them. At the very least, you will find many tiny fossils and a few small to medium teeth with good color. Each piece is like an Easter Egg, and you don't know what's there until you open it.
The largest pieces are shown on the top and the smaller chunks are on the bottom of the photo. A standard geologists rock pick is shown for scale.
For one lot, you will receive a box filled with small chunks - as many as I can fit into a USPS Medium Flat Rate box (a few pounds). If you purchase multiple lots, I will fill a larger box with larger chunks - the larger the box, the larger the pieces will be. (Larger chunks sometimes have larger fossils).
These would be perfect for demonstrations or science-labs for teachers.
NOTE : this item is for domestic US buyers only. International shipping is not available.
