What ivory is that?

Santi

Santi

Joined
Sep 12, 2000
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Any way could one tell if it's an elephant's, mammoth's or mastodon's or whatever? What's the diffirent? :confused:

PS: what is mastodon?
THANKS! :)
 
Santi. best of my knowlege both the Wooly Mammoth and Mastodon, for us common folks, are "similar" but distinct species of damned big extinct ancestors or relatives of our modern pachyderms. As to the product of their "Ivory" - everything I've seen advertized has been correctly described as "fossilized" -- It's stone - hard as a rock, well, hell it's stone!!! At least we don't have to shoot 'em to get knife scales!!! OK, I have a few small peices of the real stuff that I hope to use on a small folder one day. Regards -----
 
Since mammoths have been dug up out of Siberian permafrost well enough preserved for dogs to eat the meat, I don't think their ivory is actually fossilized.
 
Ivory is really the outer part of animal teeth. Several different kinds of ivory are commonly used for knife making. To distinguish these types of ivory you may need to look at a cross section of the piece under magnification. Because US law restricts import and export of elephant ivory that can not be proven to be more than 150 years old, other forms of ivory have become popular in recent years.

Mammoth ivory comes from Alaska, and Siberia and is at least 10,000 years old since that is when the last Mammoths died out. Because it is found in frozen ground, it is usually not actually 'fossilized' but does acquire color from minerals in the soil. Bark, or surface ivory is much more valuable than the whiter material found in the center of the trunk.

Mastadon ivory is from a smaller species found in warmer climates. It is not as common as mammoth ivory and may be even older. I doubt that very much mastodon ivory is actually used on knives. It seems that some people use the terms interchangably, not realizing that these are different animals living in different places. Mastodon ivory would not tend to be as well preserved as Mammoth ivory.

Walrus ivory is also found along the shores of Alaska and Siberia, and also picks up colors from the ground it is buried in. Because the walrus is still living, so called fossil walrus ivory may be only a few thousand years old.

None of these materials are actually fossilized to the extent that minerals have completely replaced the organic matrix with rock. They can be carved and worked similarly to elephant ivory.

Because of the scarcity and legal problems involved in the ivory trade, synthetic (plastic) ivory materials have been produced. This material is very white, and does not exhibit the striations seen in real ivory.

The famous Georgian (former USSR) knifemaker Zaza Revishvilli obtains mammoth ivory from his friends in Siberia in exchange for US made tools. He told me that these folks think that Mammoth was actually some sort of large rodent living underground. I found that idea Very amusing :)

This article at KnifeArt may help:

How to identify ivory

Paracelsus
 
Originally posted by Paracelsus
To distinguish these types of ivory you may need to look at a cross section of the piece under magnification. Because US law restricts import and export of elephant ivory that can not be proven to be more than 150 years old, other forms of ivory have become popular in recent years.

Mammoth ivory comes from Alaska, and Siberia and is at least 10,000 years old since that is when the last Mammoths died out. Because it is found in frozen ground, it is usually not actually 'fossilized' but does acquire color from minerals in the soil. Bark, or surface ivory is much more valuable than the whiter material found in the center of the trunk.

Mastadon ivory is from a smaller species found in warmer climates. It is not as common as mammoth ivory and may be even older. I doubt that very much mastodon ivory is actually used on knives. It seems that some people use the terms interchangably, not realizing that these are different animals living in different places. Mastodon ivory would not tend to be as well preserved as Mammoth ivory.

Walrus ivory is also found along the shores of Alaska and Siberia, and also picks up colors from the ground it is buried in. Because the walrus is still living, so called fossil walrus ivory may be only a few thousand years old.

None of these materials are actually fossilized to the extent that minerals have completely replaced the organic matrix with rock. They can be carved and worked similarly to elephant ivory.

Paracelsus [/B]
Click to expand...

Para;

Are you certain about the 150 years? I was sure that it was 50 and need to know if I have been wrong. I have bought no elephant ivory in some time but might want to before long.

I can sure be wrong, but, it is my understanding the the Mastodon was the largest of all the elephants. The tusk that was sold to me was almost twice as large around the cavity end as any of the Mammoth tusks I have seen and I have bought lots of them. It also was in MUCH better shape than most tusks coming out of the gold fields in Alaska. Whole tusks are rare but I think that the Mastodon had longer, heavier, and somewhat strighter tusks than the VERY curved, almost twisted Mammoth tusks.

Just found information that makes me think that I was wrong above. The Mastodon did not have longer tusks, I still belive that they were larger and heavier though.
all the best, A. G.
 
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