Before elephant ivory became widely available in Europe (which did not happen until the mid1200s), sculptors and craftworkers instead used sea ivories: the teeth of whales and the tusks of walruses. These versatile raw materials could be carved into distinctive versions of commonplace objects or used to sculpt exquisite and valuable treasures for both the secular elite and the Christian Church. Ivory from walrus tusks was especially favoured, with its value increasing according to the distance from its Arctic origin. Based on written, archaeological and art historical evidence, the tusks were traded from both the Barents Sea region and (after c. 985) Greenland. Tusks were also briefly traded from Iceland, following its settlement in the 870s. Strong ropes of walrus hide were also valuable trade goods in medieval Europe, but it is the ivory that has survived for posterity. The Sea Ivories exhibition at the NTNU University Museum, and the articles herein, tell the story of these remarkable raw materials, the animals from which they came, and the many people involved in their acquisition, trade and use.
Cite this book:
Barrett, James H., and Ellen Grav, ed. Havets Elfenbein / Sea Ivories. NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet, 2025.
