Miles of Alaska

fossil ivory teeth shell claws bones of animal opal semiprecious stones raw materials art supplies for craft people artists

Fossil teeth are usually used as jewelry pendants. some would do for knife handles. Any would be a display. They are good items for medicine bags -Native crafts artifacts. they are hard- carve-able take a nice polish. Can be unstable and can crack so some care must be taken as with any ancient material. keep oiled.

Care of raw material-- If you are trying some if this for the first time keep some things in mind. 'Raw' is cheaper because it has not been treated- and might be dirty furry and needs 'something' done to it so it can be a finished product--and is why it is so much cheaper then 'finished'. Many times it need special care. Teeth enjoy cracking. They may need oil and or a finished product needs to be stabilized or bound in wire or something to stop cracking. Drillig a simple hole in a tooth is an art form (for example) You have a 90% chance of ruining your first one. Claws have an inner bone. I try to check but you must check and maybe glue the bone into the claw --this is your responsibility as the buyer of raw material. Some items may not be suited well for a certain purpose--be sure to inquire if unsure. Some items are brittle or heavy or hard to carve without care. You might be better off trying a sample piece. Ivory for example does not like water much so do not use a water drip to keep dust down while slicing it and want a refund because it warped and cracked! Keep ivory dry or use oil.Many material do not like to be heated when cut so must be cut slow- oil is usually better then water on most animal parts Pricing-- due to nature- all are not equal-- and how it is handled before I get it effects price as well as availability. A bad cold or snow year means the Natives have not got out trapping and I may not get offered lynx or wolf. Many animals have a natural population cycle and when they are in abundance I am offered more then I can buy and when scarce I do not have enough. This is just how it is- and price reflects this. You have to inquire about current price and availability since this is not factory produced--Nature and God still rule supreme in this business! History of the material -- I get these item from so many sources it is hard to get into- but usually I know and can tell you but more 'after you buy it' as I do not like to get into story time and no sale. If you want an item for 'sacred reasons' let me know and I will do my best to get you material with a source connection you might relate - accept. I'm a small enough business I know where my material comes from. In general I try to keep it 'natural' and clean by boiling or composting and not with chemicals (that matters to some people-I do it more for economics and it is just how I know how to do. ) Many-most of my raw materials and how I got in the business was from the surplus of my own art business. I get offered more then I can ever use and realize there are people who are not at the source and would pay for this so 'Hmm' a side business developed. Really I prefer to sell the finished art as there is more mark up For crafts-- Well there is a reason a finished wolf claw necklace is $30 but the raw claw is maybe $10. It looks easy to do but in reality it takes skill - tools knowledge. If you ask me how come it didn't arrive with that little thingy on top to hang it from-- I'm gonna tell you "cause then it's worth $30and not $10" (Da!) Internet customer-- Unlike a physical shop the internet attracts more variety of people. I get children with questions for school assignments. I get many people who do bazzars-flea makets and dabble in crafts but are not very skilled. I get Native Americans seeking ceremonial items. I get dealers who know 10 times what I do who sell around the world. I get some of the top knife makers in the country looking for handle material- and museums needing samples-artifacts etc. and people from other countries who do not have a clue what they are looking at. All these have to be addressed- and frankly all need a special language to communicate with them. so I encourage you to email and we can take it from there. Befoer we even talk I have to know what you know- and if you do not tell me I have to guess. I may have special items to tell you of 'under the counter' for special needs--or have a source for it. So anyhow hope the pictures have loaded!

Everything on this page is a raw material- there is no art for sale- This is the 'fossil' page

Laws on shipping and receiving of animal parts vary from state to state. Buyer assumes responsibility for knowing the laws of your state. Everything offered here is legal in Alaska.

Tanana River- where much of the materials i get come from- usually from one of the many gold mines in the area (without getting specific--smile) I know the good places to look. Fossils are state regulated and fall under the 'minerals' act and can be taken from patent mine claims.

After finding a batch of prehistoric bones and ivory - one of the first steps is to hose it down and get all the mud off- before banding with clamps so they do not crack while drying--then store in a cool place in plastic - slowly exposing to the air so they dry slowly- which might take a year before I can offer them up as 'raw materials'.

More materials! I have more then I can show- some items are in small supply but exotic. I sometimes get fossil whale teeth- lion claws. I have a good source for nice opals. I have amber with bugs in it. Let me know your interests.

Cave bear tooth --wolf bone chain opal inlay-custom cast sterling mammoth with copper tusks showing what can be done with the materials on this page

Cave bear skeleton showing how big they were 40,000 yeas ago! I'm wearing the necklace at the left made from the fang of one.

Cave Bear necklace-- skeleton

I pride myself in my reputation as a supplier of good legal materials. In general I am a hunter for food and have never trophy hunted. I got started supplying raw materials as a byproduct of my subsistence life I once lived (for 30 years) and much of what I supply is destined for village dumps as trash or has no local value. I got into this out of a sense of not liking to see the waste and to help myself and locals turn a by product into cash for people with no regular jobs. I have branched out since but the basic concept remains-- a respect for the land and what it gives us- and a desire to share the beauty through a part of the animal- often ancient.

Source of materials

Links to my other raw materials

Scroll down for fossil items

old wood no name for this material-half between coal and wood- found with mammoth ivory great colors for knife handles - art inlays etc

That are not fossils
This site is just for knife makers and has custom guards blades and lots of handle material
right Steller sea cow bone -- sometimes I have this material or can get it- a fossil extinct animal - bone solid and used for carving and knife handle material $55
Right. This is a picture from one of the winter trails i take when visiting the homestead or acquiring carcasses from native trappers. This is Denali mountain
I offer hand made mammoth (sometimes walrus)ivory beads by the strand or individually for other crafter  to use price will depend on size and quality and number bought.
replica teeth claws, click on icon
Cassette tape Stormbound Trapper by Miles $7. This is an hour and half long story with sound effects recorded on the homestead. It's purpose is help you know what Alaska winter is like

This is a link to my ordering page that answers a lot of question about how to inquire, best time to contact me, why so many pictures have no price or shop cart symbol, methods of payment, issues and problems, and related topics

A link to my newest. Sometimes not in a shop cart but post pictures of what I just got in to inquire about or look for in the shop cart
If you see anything here you like cut and paste the picture in an email to me

Whale vertebrae.

Left Fossil wolf fangs -- Dire wolf
These fangs pick up color from the soil they have mineralized in and are brown  to reddish or green tinges.
Fosisl wolf fangs small in pairs for earrings. Inquire (cut and paste the picture) About $40 a set
Fossil wood on it's way to becoming coal so part back part brown -- found with mammoth ivory. Somet4iems called 'jet' sometimes 'bog wood'.  
Right mammoth ivory beads hand cut and polished from Yukon river mammoth ivory $8 each If you need matched or a certain color size let me know.
If you see something you like,  cut and paste me the picture so I know what you are looking at. Instructions how to cut paste on advice page
Contact me! cut paste picture!
If you see something you like,  cut and paste me the picture so I know what you are looking at. Instructions how to cut paste on advice page
Contact me! cut paste picture!
Fossil cave bear jaw
About 40,000 years old from a short face bear that lived at the time of the mammoths in Siberian and Alaska. This bear stood about 14 ft tall. This shows where the cave bear fangs come from that I sell separately. This is 10 inches long x 5 inches high. Fang is about 4 inches, mostly the root in the jaw. $300
Sold!
Above Alaska fossil hunters take a bath
sizes
$20 to $35
Sizes
color preference when possible
Fossil shark teeth from Moracco buy one for $3 buy 10 for $20
buy 1 or buy 10
The fossils I buy at the big fossil show in Tucson arrive in Alaska in flat rate boxes Left part of the shop
Art I create using fossils seen on this page
It is best to inquire about various materials when they are in season. Mammoth ivory is found in mid summer or during the Tucson show for example, local bones are cleaned in spring- see my seasons for best prices and availability of most materials. When you get to this page, scroll the directory to last entry
Finding Mammoth tusks
Fossil cave bear fangs. Technically called the short face bear. Stood 14 ft tall back 40,000 years ago in the days of the mammoth. Rare, harder to find new sources. One nice aspect is because they are old fossil they are legal everywhere (no one killed the animal to get these fangs. Small are $75, mediums are $95 and large are $120.
Bog wood
sizes prices
Mammoth ivory chunk 1 pound 7 ounces. 10 inches x 4 ½ across width curve - 3 inches across in a straight line. X 1 inch thick at one end tapering to 1/16th at the thin end. Surface very sold and hard , material gets softer inside and delaminating partially stabilized in the back with ivory dust and glue to keep intact. Sits flat if used as a display. My original intention for this was to use it as a knife display stand. Could be cut into knife scales carved into pendants etc. $250. Sold
Mammoth ivory scraps
I have lots of odds and ends of mammoth ivory. Some just to small for knife scales, cut offs some good for pendants or inlays or for knife makers, pommels guards spacers etc. Left is a typical pound -right slightly larger pieces with better colors (scrimshaw people may prefer the ordinary lot with more light colors- knife makers may want the blues and larger pieces for possible small scales ). Ordinary is $50 a pound. More select is $60 a pound.
ordinary or select
This has been my most active web page. There may be raw materials of interest to other artists on this page, worth checking out.
These are fossil bones can not ship out of the US. I have quite a few to choose from . Some are small or partial some are larger displays. Range from $50 up to $400. Inquire.
Mammoth bone 40,000 years old Manley Hot Springs Alaska. Weighs 11.5 ounces, 4.5 inches long x 2 3/4 wide x 1 ¼ thick. Solid material carves nice uniform tan color. I sell this to guitar makers for saddles, knife makers for handles of knives. Can be cut for jewelry, carves like hard wood or modern bone. $55
Mammoth ivory carving piece. Nice and solid. 1 pound 12 oz. This is 5 inches x 2 ½ across and 2 ½ tall. No pits or soft spots could be turned on a lathe. A uniform soft cream 'old ivory' look. I have sold this kind of material to those who make guitar parts, bagpipe stems, pens, knife makers, to give you an idea of the uses it has. $280 Might sound like a lot but about a third off what I usually get per pound for this grade. Had it a while, got a good deal in it - just passing that along
Mammoth ivory carving block. Triangular shape. Weighs 6 ounces. This is 4 inches long x 2 x 1 wide. This has been stabalized. The lines in it you see are solid and part of the ivory (filled with ivory dust and special resin. Can be carved, turned on a lathe for jewelry carvings guitar nuts - bridges etc. 40,000 years off the Tanana River Alaska. $55
I have materials just for knife makers but some of this is good for other craft people. Left set of blue mammoth ivory scales for knife handle
Mammoth ivory 13.3 ounces. Solid bark (outer hardest material) 5 inches x 4 ¾ around the curve width - 4 inches in a straight line x a thickness tapering from ¾ of an inch to just over ¼ inch. No cracks or delaminating. Good for carving or scrimshaw work A uniform off white color - good substitute for elephant ivory that cant be got hold of. This is 40,000 year old material from Alaska. $190. Sold
Fossil walrus ivory 11 ounces. 4 inches long x 2 inches across at narrow and x 1 ½ at the thickest end and a fairly uniform 1 ¼ thick. Solid no cracks. Has some good colors. Could be carved, turned on a lathe, cut into jewelry, scrimshawed, used for knife handles. $150- this is just over $100 a pound, a really good price. I have seen this material go for over $200 a pound. Priced to sell. I have a lot of material I got a deal on.Sold .
Mammoth ivory chunk 2.9 ounces. 1 ½ x 2 inches for slicing or carving small project $15.
A note on fossils in general. Laws have changed over the years. In general a person needs mineral rights to the land, or permission. Certainly I do not wish to encourage anyone to do anything illegal. Much is part of a romantic story. Sort of like many endeavors "Please do not try this at home, ask your parents first" and stuff like that. Big Brother is asking me to give more details, do tell.

A comment on scraps for clarification. I have had about a 10% ‘dissatisfied customer’ rate on scraps. So let me explain. ‘Scraps’ are just that. Material I toss aside I can not see a good use for as I have much more better stuff. But you may not have better stuff or have different needs then I do. The price is right. It ends up about $2 per piece. If I offer these same pieces one at a time they are $10 each. You are getting them for 1/5th the price. If half of what you get can not be used, toss it out and you are still ahead. I like to know what your use of this is and if I can or have time or understand your need I will take a few moments to grab up material more suited for your needs. If you carve, I might make sure there is some nice 1x1 squares. If you make pocket knives I might grab as many flat matched pieces as I can and toss out the dice shaped ones. That’s a donated free minute of my time, to be nice. You may return the full amount if dissatisfied. You may not indignantly demand I take back and replace the rejects you can’t use. Please look at the picture of a typical pound of scraps and decide if this meets your needs or not.

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