When ivory came from the seas. On some traits of the trade of raw and carved sea-mammal ivories in the Middle Ages
Even if it played a part, it is not so much the lesser availability of elephant ivory as the Norse expansion in the Northern Atlantic that brought the success of walrus ivory throughout Western Europe and far beyond. The strength of demand did not only bring the extinction of the species in Iceland,...
Published in: | Anthropozoologica |
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Online Access: | https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/when-ivory-came-from-the-seas-on-some-traits-of-the-trade-of-raw-and-carved-seamammal-ivories-in-the-middle-ages(375d2285-963f-4f28-8f80-76acccc20ecd).html https://doi.org/10.5252/anthropozoologica2018v53a14 |
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ftunstandrewcris:oai:research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk:publications/375d2285-963f-4f28-8f80-76acccc20ecd 2024-06-23T07:50:32+00:00 When ivory came from the seas. On some traits of the trade of raw and carved sea-mammal ivories in the Middle Ages Dectot, Xavier 2018-10-05 https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/when-ivory-came-from-the-seas-on-some-traits-of-the-trade-of-raw-and-carved-seamammal-ivories-in-the-middle-ages(375d2285-963f-4f28-8f80-76acccc20ecd).html https://doi.org/10.5252/anthropozoologica2018v53a14 eng eng https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/when-ivory-came-from-the-seas-on-some-traits-of-the-trade-of-raw-and-carved-seamammal-ivories-in-the-middle-ages(375d2285-963f-4f28-8f80-76acccc20ecd).html info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Dectot , X 2018 , ' When ivory came from the seas. On some traits of the trade of raw and carved sea-mammal ivories in the Middle Ages ' , Anthropozoologica , vol. 53 , no. 1 , pp. 159-174 . https://doi.org/10.5252/anthropozoologica2018v53a14 Greenland Iceland Ivory Khutu Middle Ages Narwhal Trade Unicorn Walrus article 2018 ftunstandrewcris https://doi.org/10.5252/anthropozoologica2018v53a14 2024-06-13T01:05:10Z Even if it played a part, it is not so much the lesser availability of elephant ivory as the Norse expansion in the Northern Atlantic that brought the success of walrus ivory throughout Western Europe and far beyond. The strength of demand did not only bring the extinction of the species in Iceland, but it was also, most probably, one of the main drivers of the sustained Norse settlement of Greenland. Maybe for the first time, at least for such an important luxury production, the division between the places the commodity was gathered and those it was processed is complete. The main workshops were in Norway, mostly in Trondheim, but also in Germany, in England, long after the end of the Danelaw, and even in France and in Castila. Raw tusks were traded, but also carved ivories, which sometimes went back to the initial collection point. Another ivory exported from the Arctic seas, narwhal teeth are even more problematic. The Greenland Norse probably never were in contact with the live sea mammal, but would find its inidentifiable body, or fragments of it, on the shore, after the animals had been eaten by killer whales. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Greenland Iceland narwhal* walrus* University of St Andrews: Research Portal Arctic Greenland Norway Anthropozoologica 53 1 159 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of St Andrews: Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftunstandrewcris |
language |
English |
topic |
Greenland Iceland Ivory Khutu Middle Ages Narwhal Trade Unicorn Walrus |
spellingShingle |
Greenland Iceland Ivory Khutu Middle Ages Narwhal Trade Unicorn Walrus Dectot, Xavier When ivory came from the seas. On some traits of the trade of raw and carved sea-mammal ivories in the Middle Ages |
topic_facet |
Greenland Iceland Ivory Khutu Middle Ages Narwhal Trade Unicorn Walrus |
description |
Even if it played a part, it is not so much the lesser availability of elephant ivory as the Norse expansion in the Northern Atlantic that brought the success of walrus ivory throughout Western Europe and far beyond. The strength of demand did not only bring the extinction of the species in Iceland, but it was also, most probably, one of the main drivers of the sustained Norse settlement of Greenland. Maybe for the first time, at least for such an important luxury production, the division between the places the commodity was gathered and those it was processed is complete. The main workshops were in Norway, mostly in Trondheim, but also in Germany, in England, long after the end of the Danelaw, and even in France and in Castila. Raw tusks were traded, but also carved ivories, which sometimes went back to the initial collection point. Another ivory exported from the Arctic seas, narwhal teeth are even more problematic. The Greenland Norse probably never were in contact with the live sea mammal, but would find its inidentifiable body, or fragments of it, on the shore, after the animals had been eaten by killer whales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dectot, Xavier |
author_facet |
Dectot, Xavier |
author_sort |
Dectot, Xavier |
title |
When ivory came from the seas. On some traits of the trade of raw and carved sea-mammal ivories in the Middle Ages |
title_short |
When ivory came from the seas. On some traits of the trade of raw and carved sea-mammal ivories in the Middle Ages |
title_full |
When ivory came from the seas. On some traits of the trade of raw and carved sea-mammal ivories in the Middle Ages |
title_fullStr |
When ivory came from the seas. On some traits of the trade of raw and carved sea-mammal ivories in the Middle Ages |
title_full_unstemmed |
When ivory came from the seas. On some traits of the trade of raw and carved sea-mammal ivories in the Middle Ages |
title_sort |
when ivory came from the seas. on some traits of the trade of raw and carved sea-mammal ivories in the middle ages |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/when-ivory-came-from-the-seas-on-some-traits-of-the-trade-of-raw-and-carved-seamammal-ivories-in-the-middle-ages(375d2285-963f-4f28-8f80-76acccc20ecd).html https://doi.org/10.5252/anthropozoologica2018v53a14 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland Norway |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland Norway |
genre |
Arctic Greenland Iceland narwhal* walrus* |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland Iceland narwhal* walrus* |
op_source |
Dectot , X 2018 , ' When ivory came from the seas. On some traits of the trade of raw and carved sea-mammal ivories in the Middle Ages ' , Anthropozoologica , vol. 53 , no. 1 , pp. 159-174 . https://doi.org/10.5252/anthropozoologica2018v53a14 |
op_relation |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/when-ivory-came-from-the-seas-on-some-traits-of-the-trade-of-raw-and-carved-seamammal-ivories-in-the-middle-ages(375d2285-963f-4f28-8f80-76acccc20ecd).html |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5252/anthropozoologica2018v53a14 |
container_title |
Anthropozoologica |
container_volume |
53 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
159 |
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1802641431043506176 |