Agatized Dinosaur Bone & Gibeon Meteorite Pendant

This is a sterling silver reversible pendant inlaid with gem quality, 150 million year old dinosaur bone on one side and Gibeon Meteorite on the reverse side. The dinosaur bone is a bright red/orange color and has large cells, meaning it came from a theropod (meat eating) dinosaur from the Morison Formation.

This fine piece of jewelry was created by master craftsman Mark Castagnoli who's been creating unique pieces of jewelry for nearly 30 years.

Agatized or agate replaced dinosaur bone is a rare form of fossilized dinosaur bone where the original fossilized bone, typically permineralized with calcite, has been re-mineralized with silica-type compounds such as agate, jasper, chalcedony, or opal.

In a unique and isolated circumstance, the strata on the Colorado Plateau were uplifted during the tertiary intrusions about 35 million years ago when the San Rafael Swell and the La Sals, Henry, and Abajo Mountains were formed. As these ranges were forming, local strata layers were flooded with silica-rich, superheated groundwater. This provided the appropriate environment to start this calcite-silicate replacement in the original fossils. The most prolific layers of gem bone come from the Morrison Formation, which is late Jurassic in age.


Gibeon is an iron-nickel meteorite that fell in prehistoric times in Namibia. It was named after the nearest town Gibeon, Namibia. The fragments of the meteorite in the strewn field are dispersed over an elliptical area 171 miles long and 62 miles wide. It have been used for centuries by the Nama people to craft tools and weapons. The crystal structure of this meteorite provides a classic example of fine octahedrite and the Widmanstatten pattern is appreciated for its beauty both by collectors and designers of jewelry.
SOLD
DETAILS
TYPE
Unknown
LOCATION
Colorado
FORMATION
Morrison Formation
SIZE
Pendant .71" wide, .70" tall
ITEM
#7887
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