Articles
8 Fun Facts About The Woolly Mammoth
by Kristen White BloggerMan has been carving beautiful pieces from ivory throughout the ages. It’s no wonder that Asia has a rich history told through stunning mammoth ivory pieces of art. These depict a variety of things including mythology, historic and wild scenes, and spiritual symbolism. Today, using elephant ivory for art has put them on the verge of extinction and it’s internationally prohibited. This has increased interest in mammoth ivory art.
What is mammoth ivory?
First discovered more than 300 years ago in Siberia, it made its way to Japan, China, and the Philippines just like elephant ivory had come in from Africa. The best carvers realized the possibility of making wonderful pieces without using elephant tusks. This ivory held special value and mystique for coming from long dead and extinct woolly mammoths. The pieces had reverence to the deep and fanciful history and filled with beauty and culture.
Early discovery
The first documented discovery of the woolly mammoth was in 1799. Its body was taken to the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Science’s zoological museum in 1806. Here, Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius reconstructed the body. He based his work on an Indian elephant skeleton to successfully reconstruct the skeleton of the extinct woolly mammoth with just a single error. The tusks were in the wrong sockets making them curve outwards but not inwards.
Modern discovery inspired by global warming
The hunt for the woolly mammoth tusks still goes on in the Arctic Siberia. This is promoted by global warming melting permafrost to reveal hidden ivory for tusk hunters. These tusks are about 10 to 13 feet in length and top-grade mammoth tusks fetch top dollar. The best way to get hold of the best mammoth ivory for sale is by investing in art pieces. These original pieces are in various categories like the laughing Buddha that you can easily purchase from an online art collector.
Everyone can tell a woolly mammoth
It’s so easy to tell a mammoth even by a kid. In September 2012, an 11-year-old Russian boy, Yevgeny “Zhenya” Salinder stumbled upon a well-preserved mammoth carcass while out with his dogs. It was a 16-year-old mammoth dead for about 30,000 years. The boy’s discovery made scientists realize that the large lumps on the animal’s back were fat stores for survival in winter. This woolly mammoth was nicknamed “Zhenya” in honor of the boy who discovered it.
No mammoth size
When one talks about a woolly mammoth, everyone obvious pictures an animal of mammoth size. Well, this isn’t actually true. These animals were about the size of an African elephant. The males had a shoulder height of about 9 to 11 feet weighing about 6 tons. Its ears were shorter than those of an African elephant. However, the largest mammoth was the Steppe mammoth that could grow to 13 to 15 feet. The thick fur coat and shortened ears were adaptations to cold weather because they minimized heat loss and frostbite.
Attachment to ice age man
From the cave paintings by ice age man, there was a special bond with the woolly mammoth. In Rouffignac cave located in France, 158 depictions of the woolly mammoth were discovered. This made up about 70 percent of animal interaction with humans dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period. Additionally, there’s well-documented evidence of humans using portable art objects, tools, furniture, and shelters from mammoth tusks and bones.
Age told from tusk
Scientists tell the mammoth’s age from the rings on its tusks. These are more revealing since a significant line represents each year with a line for weeks and days. It’s also possible to tell the season the mammoth died since darker increments were for summer. Additionally, the thickness or thinness of the rings in the tusks indicated the health of the mammoth at that time. This is because tusks could grow more in favorable conditions.
More woolly animals existed
Woolly mammoths had a coat with a guard of long hairs and an undercoat of shorter hairs. However, the mammoth wasn’t the only animal with woolly hair. The woolly rhinoceros lived with the mammoth and occupied earth during the Pleistocene epoch. These woolly hairs were to allow the animals to survive the cold that was present at the time.
Final resting place
The woolly mammoth had- its final resting place at Wrangel Island in the Arctic. Most of the population perished about 10,000 years ago, about 500 to 1000 mammoths continued to live at Wrangel Island until about 1650 BC. This was about 4,000 years ago and 1000 years after the Egyptians had built the Giza pyramids.
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About Kristen White 
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Created on Apr 2nd 2019 08:01. Viewed 177 times.
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