Enigmatic Anglo-Saxon ivory rings discovered in elite burials came from African elephants 4,000 miles away

Live Science ^ | late June 2023 | Tom Metcalfe

[SunkenCiv]

Enigmatic "ivory rings" found in dozens of Anglo-Saxon burials in England have long baffled archaeologists, who weren't sure of the rings' origin and which animal they came from — elephants, walruses or mammoths. But now, scientific techniques have revealed that these rings likely came from African elephants living about 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) away, a new study finds.

The finding indicates a trading network brought the objects from eastern Africa and across post-Roman Europe to England...

The researchers analyzed one of seven so-called "bag rings" found in graves at an early Anglo-Saxon cemetery, dated to between the late fifth and early sixth centuries A.D., near the village of Scremby, about 65 miles (110 km) east of Sheffield.

After analyzing the ivory's collagen protein, the team found that the ring was made from the tusk of an African elephant (genus Loxodonta) and radiocarbon analysis revealed the pachyderm lived around the fifth century A.D...

The researchers also measured the ivory's ratio of strontium isotopes (forms of the element with different neutron counts). These ratios indicate the geology of a region. The results showed that the elephant grew up in an area with geologically young volcanic rocks — probably the Rift Valley region of East Africa, Willmott said.

The lack of finds of ivory workings in Anglo-Saxon England suggests the rings were crafted in Africa — probably in Aksum, a center for ivory working at that time — and then traded until they reached England, he said. It's possible that the few bag rings found in continental Europe may be evidence of that trade.

Finds show the ivory rings were popular among Anglo-Saxons for at least 100 years.

[SunkenCiv]

The new analysis suggests the rings were made in the African kingdom of Aksum of ivory from the tusks of African elephants, and were traded across post-Roman Europe to England.

Image credit: Hemer et al/Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports; (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

[SunkenCiv]

[Sacajaweau]

It’s called trade....cool

[alloysteel]

Trade routes extended even further than that. The Roman Empire had quite a reach, and what they did not come in contact with, the Phoenicians and later the Arabian sailors penetrated much of Africa beyond the Sahara and the equator.

Trade routes would have survived the fall of the western Roman Empire, as Norsemen reached into Spain and even parts of northern Africa, and when they got over the first fever of piracy, they too settled into relatively peaceful trading.

[Sacajaweau]

some kind of crown for your hair

[SunkenCiv]

I wholeheartedly agree. The ancientnavigation keyword has a number of topics pertaining (at least in part) to both Roman and Byzantine trade, both of which were widespread. These two links are to topic postings that have 100 chrono-sorted topics from that keyword:

• Silver in ancient Egyptian bracelets provides earliest evidence for long-distance trade between Egypt and Greece [06/05/2023]
• Shell beads discovery sheds light on Stone Age seafaring [05/30/2023]

[SunkenCiv]

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[xxqqzz]

Is that surprising? They probably got sold and transported several times from central Africa to England.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks for the nonsense response.

[Texan5]

It looks more like a hair ornament to me-maybe to put around a bun, or like a little tiara...