Elephant bones

Vogel, J.C., Eglinton, B. and Auret, J.M. 1990 Isotopic fingerprints in elephant bone and ivory. Nature 346 747-749. 

C. Vance Haynes, Jr. of the University of Arizona at Tucson. The whale bone was obtained from Gifford Miller of the University of Colorado. The modern bones belong to an elephant that died in 1964 and was buried for six years prior to re-excavation. The elephant bones were obtained from Charles McNulty of the University of Texas at Arlington. 

Stelling and Van der Peijl [67] discuss the analysis of the stable isotopic compositions in elephant bone tissue and ivory in an attempt to determine whether elephant populations in Africa can be discriminated. 

Ferritin is present in numerous living species, from bacteria to elephant. In humans, it is mainly located in the liver, in the spleen, in the bone marrow, and in the extrapyramidal nuclei of the brain (putamen, globus pallidus, caudate and substantia nigra). 

In the following year Sir Everard Home interested Mr. Hatchett in the chemical composition of dental enamel (7, 8). Since the tooth of the elephant is composed of three different structures, Sir Everard wished to know whether the materials themselves were different or only differently arranged. Hatchett showed that the enamel was composed of calcium phosphate. The enamel, said he, has been supposed not a phosphate but a carbonate of lime. This error may have arisen from its solubility in acetous acid or distilled vinegar but the effects of the acetous acid are in every respect the same on powdered bone as on the enamel (8). 

To the above discussion may be added that the Russians used compressed Guncotton, contg ca 17% of moisture since about the 1860 s for loading ammunition but during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), Russian shells loaded with Guncotton proved to be much inferior to Japanese shells loaded with Shimose (cast Picric Acid). Some Whitehead torpedoes of the Russian Navy were loaded with Guncotton as late as WWI. One of the older P.ussian expls, known as Slonit (Elephantit) consisted of Guncotton hydraulically compressed to the hardness of elephant s bone... 

Related Materials. Table II gives the results of elemental analyses for bone, ivory, and related specimens. The mastadon, mammoth, and ancient walrus sample analyses indicated retained proteinaceous matter in composition equivalent to that for modern elephant ivory. This suggests that these materials would not provide a ready source of aged ivory for a modem carver seeking to duplicate the texture and composition of ivory buried for well over 2,000 years. 

Vertebrate animals may be preserved dry or in fluid. Traditional systematic species collections may include study skins, skeletons, and fluid-preserved animals or body parts. Study skins are, as the name implies, the skin of the animal with hair and feathers intact. In small animals, the bones are often left in place since it would be too difficult and damaging to remove them. In study skins, the eyes and mouth are usually filled with cotton, and the body is stuffed gently with either cotton or acid-free tissue in order to keep the skin extended to its original size and shape. Large animals, such as whales or elephants, require a great deal of preparation and storage space. Some researchers may keep only those parts that are relevant to their collections, like the skull or extremities. Soft tissue or stomach contents may be frozen or preserved in alcohol. 

Spodion derived from the Calcined Bones of Elephants, Dogs, and other Animals. 

Bone is the most common simulant of ivory. In smaU items or as inlay it can be difBcult to tell which material has been used as both bone and ivory appear much the same colour and have many similar properties. However, bone contains none of the structural patterns of ivories, for example the engine turned pattern of elephant and mammoth ivory or the tapioca pattern of the secondary dentine in walrus ivory. Instead it has the black dots or lines of the Haversian canals (nutrient bearing canals) (Figs 4.2 and 4.3). 

Bone hicks the typical id itifymg features of ivozy, such as elephant ivozy s engine tuming, walrus ivory s secondary dentine, or concentric lines in the dentine. 

What percentage of C-14 would you expect a piece of 34 000 year-old fossilized bone from a mastodon to have when compared to a similar piece of bone from a modern elephant ... 

Figure 1. XRD traces of different bioapatite materials from modern and fossil elephants. Fossil dentin, cementum and bone all show a decrease in peak width compared to modem materials, indicating diagenetic recrystallization and coarsening of original apatite. Enamel peaks are essentially unaffected. From Ayliffe et al. (1994).

Turekian KK, Kulp JL (1956) Strontirrm content in human bones. Science 124 405-406 Ttrross N, Behrensmeyer AK, Eanes ED (1989) Strontium increases and crystallinity changes in taphonomic and archaeological bone. J Archaeol Sci 16 661-672 Van der Merwe NJ, Lee-Thorp JA, Thackeray JF, Hall-Martin A, Kmger FJ, Coetzee H, Bell RHV, Lindeque M (1990) Somce-area determination of elephant ivory by isotopic analysis. Nature 346 744-746... 

An excavated bone of a prehistoric elephant contains 10 % of the eC of a living animal. Calculate, how old this fossil is. The half-life of carbon-14 is 5,700 years. 

Fourcroy and Vauquelin showed that fiish-roe contains phosphorus, and bones contain calcium and magnesium phosphates. Calcium fluoride was discovered in the enamel of fossil elephant (mammal) teeth by Morichini. ... 

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