Elephants mammoths

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. 

Mammoths, Mammuthus primigenus, roamed huge areas of the globe for four million years. The last mammoths died out at the end of the last Ice Age, about seven thousand years ago. Contrary to popular belief, elephants are not descended from mammoths but are from the same species as mammoths, and so are cousins. The first to arrive in Europe probably did so about three and a half million years ago. 

Mammoth tusks are not covered by trade bans, as the animal is already extinct and therefore not endangered. This makes mammoth ivory a popular substitute for elephant ivory today. 

In cross-section the mammoth tusk exhibits the same engine turning pattern as the elephant tusk (Fig. 3.12), and it can be impossible to tell them apart. Mammoth ivory can be a fraction darker in colour than elephant ivory, and does not take quite such a good polish. Also, the angles of intersection of the arcs in the dentine pattern tend to be narrower, at less than 90 degrees, as opposed to over 115 degrees in elephant ivory, though this can vary. 

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). 

The diagnostic for certain ivories is their structural patterns, for example the engine turning pattern in elephant or mammoth ivory, the tapioca pudding look of the secondary dentine in walrus ivory, the diagonal pattern on narwhal ivory and the concentric lines and dark central spot of sperm whale ivory (F 3.4 and 3.12-3.17). In larger carvii or objects, the curvature of a tusk may be detectable. Examination of the structural pattern is needed to determine which type of tusk has been used. 

Mammoth tusk Upper incisor Long, more curved than elephant, max. 4 m Round or oval Irregular wavy lines Can be thick, layered Intersecting arcs, ( engine turning pattern)... 

Haynes, G. 1991. Mammoths, Mastodonts, and Elephants Biology, Behavior and Fossil Record. New York Cambridge University Press. 

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