Mammoth ivory was the most suitable osseous raw material for the production of Late Pleistocene big game projectile points

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 2303
• Main Authors: Pfeifer, Sebastian J., Hartramph, Wolfram L., Kahlke, Ralf-Dietrich, Müller, Frank A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 19.02.2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/61/54/991; 704/158/2462; 704/844/841; Collagen; Comparative analysis; Elephants; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hunting; Ivory; Mammuthus primigenius; Mechanical properties; multidisciplinary; Permafrost; Pleistocene; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-38779-1

Late Pleistocene societies throughout the northern hemisphere used mammoth and mastodon ivory not only for art and adornment, but also for tools, in particular projectile points. A comparative analysis of the mechanical properties of tusk dentine from woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ) and African elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) reveals similar longitudinal stiffness values that are comparable to those of cervid antler compacta. The longitudinal bending strength and work of fracture of proboscidean ivory are very high owing to its substantial collagen content and specific microstructure. In permafrost, these properties can be fully retained for thousands of years. Owing to the unique combination of stiffness, toughness and size, ivory was obviously the most suitable osseous raw material for massive projectile points used in big game hunting.