This divot tool was made from a very nice piece of Mammoth Bark that was uncovered in Northern Siberia.  Wooly Mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) became extinct toward the end of the Pleistocene Period, about 10,000 years ago, so this piece is at least that old and probably closer to 20,000 years old.  Mammoth Bark is the very hard exterior layer of the tusk that had been in contact with the soil for thousands of years.  This soil contact allows an exchange of minerals that give Mammoth Bark its distinctive and highly prized colorations.  Most of the tusks that survive this long have been buried in bogs or other alluvial soils that deprived them of oxygen, helping to prevent decay.  The tusks were then frozen and are just recently being exposed due to the melting of the tundra ice.

It should be noted that the tusk this piece came from was not a fossil.  Fossilized tusk is almost always found in warmer regions where the free movement of moisture creates an exchange of minerals for the original organic material, making it very hard and brittle, like rock.  A divot tool made from fossilized tusk would be far too brittle to use, but since this tusk was frozen for most of its existence it retains all the properties of fresh ivory.  It is warm to the touch, unlike stone, but takes an exceptionally smooth polish.

The piece of bark that this tool was made from was almost thrown in the trash. It was a small, chalky piece, mostly white with rust colored streaks, that broke off from a larger piece. When I removed all the funky material I found this piece inside, not much larger than the finished tool. itself. To say I was surprised to find it is an understatement! It's one of the most striking pieces of Mammoth Bark I've ever worked with - truly one-of-a-kind. At the time I was working on it I wished it was a lot larger, but now that it's finished I'm just happy that it got here. Better small than never. Dimensions are approximately 2-1/2" long, 3/4" wide and 1/8" thick.

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