{"product_id":"walrus-tooth-fossil-alaska-usa","title":"Walrus Tooth - Fossil Specimen","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLocality\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e: Alaska, U.S.A.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eGeological Age\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e: Quaternary, exact age not dated\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDescription\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003eThese are fossil walrus teeth from Alaska. They are natural teeth and have not been carved. Collectors buy them as fossil specimens, and carvers and scrimshaw artists buy them as raw material. Each tooth comes raw and unpolished, just as it came out of the ground.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWalrus ivory is dentine, the same hard tissue that forms the bulk of all mammal teeth, wrapped in a thin outer layer of cementum. A walrus tooth grows in two stages. Primary dentine forms the smooth, dense outer body of the tooth. Secondary dentine slowly fills the pulp cavity as the animal ages. In walrus this secondary dentine is a distinctive type called oscillodentine: it looks globular and mottled, almost like tapioca or marbling, in a cross-section or on a worn surface. That marbled core is the easiest way to tell walrus ivory from elephant or mammoth ivory, which shows criss-cross Schreger lines instead.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOver thousands of years buried in Arctic sediments and frozen ground, groundwater carries dissolved minerals such as iron, manganese and phosphates into the porous dentine. These minerals slowly stain and partly replace the original tissue. This mineralisation gives fossil walrus ivory its creams, caramels, browns and occasional dark blue-black tones, and makes it denser than fresh ivory. Because the process is uneven, no two teeth are coloured quite alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePieces: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e1\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eApproximate size for 1 piece:\u003c\/b\u003e 28mm x 14mm x 11mm\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eApproximate weight for 1 piece:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e 5g\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWe do our best to buy quality products- although not every rock is the same. If you choose to purchase the \"staff pick option\", we will select the best of the batch for you. Otherwise, it will be at random from the larger batch we have in stock.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"U.S.A.","offers":[{"title":"Standard","offer_id":41969272291498,"sku":"FOSWAL001","price":7.5,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Staff Pick","offer_id":41969272324266,"sku":"FOSWAL002","price":10.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/7158\/3658\/products\/Fossil-Walrus-Teeth_2.jpg?v=1632344602","url":"https:\/\/rubblerockandgem.com\/products\/walrus-tooth-fossil-alaska-usa","provider":"Rubble Rock And Gem","version":"1.0","type":"link"}