SiS: HUGE & RARE Black 14" Hampton Butte Petrified Wood Slab - Fossil PINE!!

Regular price $328.00

This site is most famous for the colorful if poorly preserved log casts that make up Oregon's famed green petrified forest, but every once in a great while a darker colored either black or wood-tone log is found. Such logs are as prized as they are rare because they tend to be far better preserved fossils than their more colorful jasperized counterparts. This is one of those logs and it appears to be a reasonably nicely preserved fossil pine. I knew this one would be special as soon as we cut it! The sun had bleached the cut end of this log to reveal great growth structure to the naked eye while it sat untouched for years in an estate collection. Add to it the high agate content and other minerals that formed naturally in ancient desiccation cracks and you have a true collector piece! The slab alternates between a very dark, earthy olive green to black and brown. There are threads of bluish white agate throughout the entire piece. The upper region shows the growth rings very clearly and the zoom photo shows just how well preserved the growth structure of this ancient conifer is! We've polished it to a mirror finish to enhance both its beauty and the ability to study it for the magnificent fossil that it is!

Arguably one of the most well known and interesting petrified wood deposits in Oregon is the "Green Wood" deposit at Hampton Butte in Central Oregon. This wood is usually more jasperized than agatized and is often more of a cast than a wood replacement, though exceptions to both of these are certainly found. The logs are more often than not fractured, but the colors are unmatched anywhere else. The dominant color is green - REALLY GREEN! These are sometimes accented with white, yellow, red, orange and other classic jasper tones - but green is what it's all about if you're looking for a good Hampton Butte specimen. Not every piece will polish well, and they don't all look an awful lot like wood, but a good specimen is tough to beat and a must have for any serious petrified wood collection - or even if you just happen to love green! But if you search long enough, you'll find the occasional well preserved log that is far more recognizable as petrified wood than most of the green jasper replaced pieces.

We obtained this log from the digger that found it, one of the most unique we've ever seen from this site. If you've ever drooled for a truly unique, museum grade petrified wood specimen with lots of eye appeal then this one simply can't be beat!

This round is kind of tough to get a good photo of because the black agate regions want to act as a mirror, but the color is true on my monitor. Most Hampton Butte casts don't show much wood grain but this one is a very notable exception, showing tons of rich fossil detail both to the naked eye and as fine growth structure under magnification. It has a very high agate concentration and took a nice polish - something we work hard to make sure stands out on every stone we sell!

This isn't something you're likely to see again and this is my best slice from this incredible log. This is an immensely large log cross section of petrified wood. No serious fractures in this one either.

If you haven't seen our petrified wood specimens before then you've been missing one of the best treasures found on eBay! We work hard to find the best specimens from the most prized locations and then deliver them with a finish that guarantees a world class specimen for your collection.

It measures about 14" x 12 5/8" and is cut 3/4" thick. It weighs 7.68 lbs.

Sticks-in-Stones Lapidary is happily providing UPS & USPS shipping to greatly reduce shipping charges on large rock orders. We will combine auction items or provide additional items from our shop to bring you the greatest possible value in fine Lapidary & stone collectibles!