Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Cool!










Huge mammoth skull found in Yukon
"...1½ metres long and one metre wide, along with a pair of intact tusks that are more than 1½ metres long."

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5 Comments:

Blogger Indigo Red said...

It's an elephant head! I was expecting a really big skull... geez, I feel ripped off.

June 17, 2010 2:31 pm  
Blogger Louise said...

Not as ripped off as you'd be if you were tossed around with those tusks. The skull is five feet long and three and half feet wide. Kinda says don't mess with me. Practicing with windmills won't help.

June 17, 2010 4:16 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I lived in Yukon for 30 yrs and the discovery of similar things is actually quite common. This discovery is unique because of the integrity of the bones. The skull and/or tusks are usually unearthed during placer gold mining operation using heavy equipment. The ivory/bones are often crushed or broken during the movement of gravels by this equipment. I should also mention that the placement of these bones is most often due to natural forces and are a result of glaciation. That process alone destroys skeletal remains. To uncover a specimen in such good condition is very rare. The existence of, and discovery of these animals is NOT rare. I have personally been involved with the restoration/preservation of mammoth tusks in the past and have seen examples of them almost 2.5 meters in length. There were only fragments of the skull and teeth found with the tusks. They are common enough that the ancient ivory is not considered 'rare' and is often used in commercial jewelery and other uses. It is ancient ivory and is therefore not a 'controlled' or banned product. It is pretty much the ONLY legally traded ivory in the world


I just thought I'd add some perspective to this post.

The miners who are most often the ones who find this stuff buried under meters and meters of gravel are not doing anything wrong. They are just as intrigued and impressed as anybody else. They also have a legal right to what they find. Sometimes they can sell this old ivory for many thousands of dollars. The miners who found this example may-well make more money from the ivory than the gold. Good on them!

June 18, 2010 2:35 am  
Blogger Louise said...

Also cool!

May I ask what sort of work you were doing? Was it mining?

June 18, 2010 8:43 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was just helping a friend to preserve the tusks. I don't work in the mining biz. My friend was married to a gal who's father had some mining operations tho. He had also worked for an artist who made gold and ivory jewelery. He learned how to stabilize the old tusks so they could be worked with. It involved using dental picks to scrape away the mud, dirt and debris from the pores and open grain of the tusk. after cleaning, the crack and gaps are injected with super-glue. this holds them together and keeps the oxygen off the bare material so further decay doesn't accelerate. cheers

June 18, 2010 5:32 pm  

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