Ivory bag rings found in more than 70 Anglo Saxon cemeteries in England have origins from African elephants according to a new study. Bag rings are commonly found in high status female burials from the late-5th and 7th centuries AD, but the source of the ivory has long been debated since the 19th century, with walrus and mammoth ivory considered as possible contenders to elephantid ivory. Recent excavations of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Scremby, Lincolnshire, have found elaborate female burials containing bag rings which have been subject to a study using radiocarbon dating and a Zooarchaeology study by mass spectrometry (ZooMS). The Kingdom played a prominent role in the supply of ivory until the 7th century AD. Perhaps related to the disrupted trade routes to the West was the marked decline in the occurrence of ivory bag rings in Anglo-Saxon graves dating from the 7th century onwards.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 01, 2023 07:52 UTC