Most of the figures are made of mammoth ivory, which was the preferred material of the Ice Age artists, whereby they used the tusks of hunted or already dead animals. The material is both hard and elastic making it very easy to work with. The smooth surface is also very pleasant to the touch. In addition to ivory, other materials such as antler, amber, jet or animal bones were used to make Ice Age figures.
The fascination with ivory continues to this day – with disastrous consequences for the mammoth’s relative, the elephant. Although the trade in elephant ivory has been banned since 1989 under the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, unfortunately at least 20,000 African elephants are still killed each year for their ivory. But not all ivory is the same. Mammoth tusks are not subject to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and can be traded freely. They are found in large numbers along the coast of the Arctic Ocean and on the banks of the great rivers of Siberia. In summer, the permafrost there is free of snow for two months, allowing the fossilised tusks to be recovered. This is how today’s ivory carvers get their material from animals that became extinct more than 10,000 years ago.
The two fragments on the table allow you to explore the material more closely and to recognise the grain typical of mammoth ivory.
