Mastodon Press 11,000-Year-Old Fossils Into 170 Vinyl Copies

Mastodon are releasing 170 vinyl copies of their new album Marrow Deep containing actual mastodon fossils — 11,000-year-old teeth ground into powder and pressed directly into the wax.

The Atlanta metal band received the fossilized teeth from a fan roughly 20 years ago, according to a press release. After years of brainstorming what to do with them, bassist and vocalist Troy Sanders proposed pressing them into vinyl. The band's label, Loma Vista Recordings, connected them with Waxwork Records, and the University of Georgia's geology department supplied the technical muscle.

"How cool is it to juxtapose something with 11,000 year old fossils with a modern 2026 Mastodon record?" Sanders said.

How do you press a fossil into a record?

A behind-the-scenes video documents the process. A University of Georgia geologist ground the teeth into what the band calls "bone dust" using a spex mill, then passed the material through a sieve. At Waxwork Records, the band members sprinkled the dust onto the wax themselves before pressing.

The geology department's involvement gave the project scientific cover for an unambiguously absurd premise: a metal band named after a prehistoric mammal, embedding that mammal's actual remains in its own record.

Why only 170 copies?

The edition size is a function of supply, not marketing. The run is limited to 170 copies "due to the finite quantity of bone dust available," the press release states.

To give fans a fair shot, Mastodon have opened a random-draw registration through their Loma Vista artist storefront. Registration closes in approximately two days from the announcement.

What is on the record?

Marrow Deep, Mastodon's ninth album, arrived in August. Rolling Stone described it as the band's own iteration of Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," recorded after the death of former guitarist Brent Hinds. "It's heavy," the review reads. "It's also weirdly emotional, at least for a metal album."

The fossil pressings mark the most literal fusion yet of the band's name and its output — a gimmick with genuine geological provenance behind it.

Mastodon remain on tour across the United States through the end of October. Their next stop is tonight, Oct. 9, at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California. For collectors, the question is simpler: 170 copies, finite dust, and a two-day window to enter the draw.