blue_knight_usa
Well-known member
I pulled this post from another thread as a topic came up that I thought was interesting and really was better suited as a post.
For those interested in identification, this is a good reference. I was on safari in Africa and saw the slaughtered ivory confiscated in a shipping container. Much of it is told to people to be mammoth but it is not. The Chinese pay Somali's who cross the border and enter Tanzania and Kenya and are killing 30,000 elephants a year. This is the #1 source of the ivory trade in China which of course is sold all over the world from China..some showing up they say as "fossilized mammoth".
Identifying ivory as mammoth is NOT simple in many cases. You have to compare Schreger lines in which a process is used with cross section comparisons and specific measurements are taken of specific angles.
You will never know if you really have mammoth ivory unless someone can prove this test and provides proof if asked or of course is an expert and can do their examination and measurements of the Schreger lines and can also provide the evidence.
If there is Vivianite (type of phosphorus stain) present, then you can almost be certain it is mammoth, and so this visual examination can discern the two by Fish and Game but it's not always the case. It is not a simple plain eye detection if there is no vivianite present.
This guide can be used to identify all the various ivory out there.
http://www.fws.gov/lab/ivory_natural.php#elephant
https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/resources/pub/E-Ivory-guide.pdf
My big question is how much mammoth is really out there? How do those who are selling "fossilized Mammoth (Mastadon)" nuts or saddles really know they are not buying and selling Elephant ivory? Are buyers provided certification of some type? I am curious for those who buy or sell it, how are you sure?
For those interested in identification, this is a good reference. I was on safari in Africa and saw the slaughtered ivory confiscated in a shipping container. Much of it is told to people to be mammoth but it is not. The Chinese pay Somali's who cross the border and enter Tanzania and Kenya and are killing 30,000 elephants a year. This is the #1 source of the ivory trade in China which of course is sold all over the world from China..some showing up they say as "fossilized mammoth".
Identifying ivory as mammoth is NOT simple in many cases. You have to compare Schreger lines in which a process is used with cross section comparisons and specific measurements are taken of specific angles.
You will never know if you really have mammoth ivory unless someone can prove this test and provides proof if asked or of course is an expert and can do their examination and measurements of the Schreger lines and can also provide the evidence.
If there is Vivianite (type of phosphorus stain) present, then you can almost be certain it is mammoth, and so this visual examination can discern the two by Fish and Game but it's not always the case. It is not a simple plain eye detection if there is no vivianite present.
This guide can be used to identify all the various ivory out there.
http://www.fws.gov/lab/ivory_natural.php#elephant
https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/resources/pub/E-Ivory-guide.pdf
My big question is how much mammoth is really out there? How do those who are selling "fossilized Mammoth (Mastadon)" nuts or saddles really know they are not buying and selling Elephant ivory? Are buyers provided certification of some type? I am curious for those who buy or sell it, how are you sure?
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