this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2026
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Would a 10,000 year old tooth even be considered a fossil?
One technical definition defines fossils as remains “‘not demonstrably postdating the beginning of the Holocene” (i.e., older than 11,700 years).
If the tooth are fossilized, they are fossils. So when the tooth tissue is replaced by minerals.
Mineralization is a slow process, and the photo in the article could pass for a fresh tooth—which is why I looked to see if there were more precise definitions.