Ashley, do some looking for "bezors." These are hairballs from the stomach of usually ruminants. I have one at the University of Wyoming that has been calcified and looks just like your photos, including the spalling that makes it look like eggshell. It was removed by a veterinarian from the Wyoming Game and Fish from the stomach of an pronghorn.
If you want comparative pictures, I can photograph it as well as normal hair bezors so you can seen the comparison.
Danny
Danny N. Walker, PhD, RPA
Zooarchaeological Identifications
Laramie,
WY 82072
--- [log in to unmask] wrote:
From: Ashley Sharpe <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ZOOARCH] Mysterious Egg-like Object
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2016 04:46:28 +0000
Dear Zooarch Community,
I have come across a mysterious egg-like object in the faunal assemblage of a Maya site in eastern Guatemala. The date is roughly 500 AD. By all rights any egg shouldn't survive out there, and I'm inclined to believe it's a rock of some sort, possibly a speleothem. However, I have no experience working with eggs or eggshells, so I wanted to pass it by the listserv in case someone might be able to identify it, or at least confirm that it's definitely not an egg.
Here is a link to the photos: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/puns6ur3jj5vgc8/AAA2b-X-a4yOOTvx5u1UUUc-a?dl=0
The object is smooth on all sides, with no indication that it had been attached to something else. The "shell" is fairly thick, a millimeter or two in some places from what I could see of the piece that broke off. There is no animal I'm aware of in the Guatemala area that would lay an egg this size.
Unfortunately these are the only photos I have of the object at the moment, since I am no longer in Guatemala and could not remove it from the excavation storage site.
I greatly appreciate any help/ideas/advice you might have.
Best,
Ashley
--
Ashley E. Sharpe
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Anthropology
University of Florida
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