On the origin of khutū
Khutū was a material derived from an animal used by Medieval Asian peoples in the manufacture of knife handles and as an alexipharmic. Al-Bīrūnī (973–1048) made extensive enquiries into the origin of khutū but reached no definite conclusion. Literary scholars in the first half of the twentieth centu...
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Language: | English |
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Edinburgh University Press
2008
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/e0260954108000405 https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full-xml/10.3366/E0260954108000405 |
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credinunivpr:10.3366/e0260954108000405 2023-05-15T17:14:12+02:00 On the origin of khutū LAVERS, C. KNAPP, M. 2008 http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/e0260954108000405 https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full-xml/10.3366/E0260954108000405 en eng Edinburgh University Press https://www.euppublishing.com/customer-services/librarians/text-and-data-mining-tdm Archives of Natural History volume 35, issue 2, page 306-318 ISSN 0260-9541 1755-6260 Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) History Anthropology journal-article 2008 credinunivpr https://doi.org/10.3366/e0260954108000405 2022-04-09T04:07:16Z Khutū was a material derived from an animal used by Medieval Asian peoples in the manufacture of knife handles and as an alexipharmic. Al-Bīrūnī (973–1048) made extensive enquiries into the origin of khutū but reached no definite conclusion. Literary scholars in the first half of the twentieth century identified the walrus and narwhal as probable sources, but in ignoring aspects of the literature on khutū’s appearance and provenance left a number of questions unanswered. We clarify and extend this research and identify further clues to the identity of khutū. We concur that walrus ivory was one source of khutū, suggest that the remains of “Ice Age” mammals may have influenced development of the medieval literature on khutū more than previous investigators realized, and offer a new hypothesis of khutū’s origin. Article in Journal/Newspaper narwhal* walrus* Edinburgh University Press (via Crossref) Archives of Natural History 35 2 306 318 |
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Open Polar |
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Edinburgh University Press (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
credinunivpr |
language |
English |
topic |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) History Anthropology |
spellingShingle |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) History Anthropology LAVERS, C. KNAPP, M. On the origin of khutū |
topic_facet |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) History Anthropology |
description |
Khutū was a material derived from an animal used by Medieval Asian peoples in the manufacture of knife handles and as an alexipharmic. Al-Bīrūnī (973–1048) made extensive enquiries into the origin of khutū but reached no definite conclusion. Literary scholars in the first half of the twentieth century identified the walrus and narwhal as probable sources, but in ignoring aspects of the literature on khutū’s appearance and provenance left a number of questions unanswered. We clarify and extend this research and identify further clues to the identity of khutū. We concur that walrus ivory was one source of khutū, suggest that the remains of “Ice Age” mammals may have influenced development of the medieval literature on khutū more than previous investigators realized, and offer a new hypothesis of khutū’s origin. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
LAVERS, C. KNAPP, M. |
author_facet |
LAVERS, C. KNAPP, M. |
author_sort |
LAVERS, C. |
title |
On the origin of khutū |
title_short |
On the origin of khutū |
title_full |
On the origin of khutū |
title_fullStr |
On the origin of khutū |
title_full_unstemmed |
On the origin of khutū |
title_sort |
on the origin of khutū |
publisher |
Edinburgh University Press |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/e0260954108000405 https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full-xml/10.3366/E0260954108000405 |
genre |
narwhal* walrus* |
genre_facet |
narwhal* walrus* |
op_source |
Archives of Natural History volume 35, issue 2, page 306-318 ISSN 0260-9541 1755-6260 |
op_rights |
https://www.euppublishing.com/customer-services/librarians/text-and-data-mining-tdm |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3366/e0260954108000405 |
container_title |
Archives of Natural History |
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35 |
container_issue |
2 |
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306 |
op_container_end_page |
318 |
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1766071493841649664 |