Mammoth or Walrus?

bjohnson

bjohnson

Well-Known Member
My grandfather lived a long and interesting life. Among his hobbies, he enjoyed jewlry making. Always for gifts, never for a profit. When he passed away in May, he left my family with a treasure of stones, fossils, and hard woods. Yesterday, my grandmother had me go through some of his drawers to see if there was anything I wanted. Among some of his jewlry-making supplies, I found these beauties. My first thought was that it was mammoth, but now I'm wondering if it's walrus. Is there a way to identify it?
 

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the shape suggests walrus, the bark and color suggest mammoth. It's not unusual to see mammoth that is only half round. The top (exposed) half is generally good. The bottom half has often rotted away.
mammoth almost always has concentric rings where at least a few have split. I don't see that with these.
I'd guess walrus. The problem is Walrus is regulated and can be confiscated by an overzealous fish and wildlife agent. Mammoth is extinct and not regulated. See if there is any paperwork and get it if you can.
 
Agreed, The small piece is walrus. If you look at the cut end you notice the almost transparent core. Thats walrus. This looks like what would be called anciant ivory, over 100 years old. My guess just by the coloring.
 
Here is a link that gives the laws on Ivory. When Ivory is colored like what you have it is classified as fossil Ivory. It takes a long time for that color change to take place. If its older than 1972 its legal after 1972 it had to be tagged. I scrounged alot of ivory while liveing in alaska in the early 70's. It is all still pure white. Check out the link below. The only Ivory that scares me are whale teeth. Tho not illegal to own you can't sell them
http://gustavus.com/heidi/laws.html
 
If you look in the first picture that is posted, the small piece, you can see the tapioca of the walrus center. All walrus.
 
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