Lot 57A
Central Asia, Russia/Siberia, Pleistocene epoch (Ice Age), ca. 35,000 years ago. A stunning mammoth tusk, probably from an adolescent, partially fossilized, with a mainly dark brown color. The exterior of this tusk is lightly polished, while the interior has its structures well preserved and visible. The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) is the most iconic species of the Ice Age, and early humans stalked and hunted these mammals across a landscape that was very different from ours today. Size: 27.75" L x 2.5" W (70.5 cm x 6.4 cm); 8" H (20.3 cm) on included custom stand.
Imagine walking in a modern Arctic or sub-Arctic landscape like Alaska, northern Canada, or Siberia and finding a tusk like this or even the larger one from an adult animal rising from the ground; the name mammoth comes from a Siberian word used to describe the tusks found there by native people, like the Khanty of the Irtysh River basin, and traded to Europe and China. Their occasional finds of massive tusks and even preserved mammoth bodies in the permafrost - often eroding out of the sides of river banks - led to their folkloric belief that mammoths were like huge rodents, dwelling underground, dying when they accidentally surfaced. With the invention of science as a discipline, massive tusks like this one continued to capture imaginations all over the world. For example, Thomas Jefferson, who was fascinated by paleontology, is credited with introducing the use of the word mammoth as an adjective to describe something very large.
Provenance: private Vaught Collection, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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#126011
- Condition: Tiny losses to the root tip, otherwise intact. Very lightly polished.
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