WOOLLY MAMMOTH TUSK (PART OF) WITH OAK STAND - about 40,000 years old - Oxfordshire
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WOOLLY MAMMOTH TUSK (PART OF)
With custom-made oak stand
About 40,000 years old
Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire
A 30 centimetre long section of a tusk of a woolly mammoth from an Oxfordshire gravel pit.
Mammoth tusks, teeth and bones have been found in gravel pits in the Thames valley, dating from a cold period of the Ice Age. Most of these fossils are now in museums, and were found when the pits were worked by hand. With mechanical excavation of the gravel such finds are now rare.
Mammoth tusks, teeth and bones have been found in gravel pits in the Thames valley, dating from a cold period of the Ice Age. Most of these fossils are now in museums, and were found when the pits were worked by hand. With mechanical excavation of the gravel such finds are now rare.
Mammoth tusks from gravel pits are only partially fossilised and require treatment with a preservative. This tusk has been treated and is now stable. However it is advisable to keep it away from sources of direct heat such as sunlight or a radiator.
A mammoth’s tusk grew continuously throughout its life. At the base of the tusk, deep inside the skull, new tusk material was laid down in a cone-shaped pulp cavity. In cross section this appears as a series of concentric rings, laid down as annual and even weekly layers. These are like tree rings, except that the youngest layers are in the centre.
A mammoth’s tusk grew continuously throughout its life. At the base of the tusk, deep inside the skull, new tusk material was laid down in a cone-shaped pulp cavity. In cross section this appears as a series of concentric rings, laid down as annual and even weekly layers. These are like tree rings, except that the youngest layers are in the centre.
Size: 30 centimetres long
and 9 centimetres diameter
Weight: 2.8 kilograms
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