New Study: Ivory Bag Rings Found in Anglo Saxon Cemeteries Came From African Elephants
High class female burials from the late fifth and seventh centuries AD frequently contain bag rings, but the origin of the ivory has been a subject of discussion since the 19th century; walrus and mammoth ivory have also been suggested as alternatives to elephantid ivory.
In Scremby, Lincolnshire, recent excavations of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery turned very elaborate female graves with bag rings. These burials were studied using radiocarbon dating and zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS).
The report states that "Strontium analysis was also used to pinpoint the elephantids' habitation at the time that their tusks formed. We have determined through a multi-methodological approach that the elephants that lived in an area of young volcanic rocks in Africa somewhere between the fifth and sixth century AD provided the ivory for the Scremby bag rings.
A well-preserved ivory bag ring from the an Anglo-Saxon burial at Scremby in Lincolnshire. Photo: ©Hugh Willmott
The ivory most likely came from the Kingdom of Aksum, which is now in modern-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia; the strontium isotope readings point to an area near Eastern Africa.
The emergence of the Aksumite Kingdom in the ancient historical kingdom of Dmt was first mentioned in a trading manual from around the middle of the first century AD called the "Periplus of the Erythraean Sea." The Kingdom was centered in Aksum, which was strategically located to rule both the highland and coastal districts of northern Ethiopia, not far from the foot of the Adwa highlands.
The Periplus text claims that the Aksumite Kingdom's position in the world had a significant part in the transcontinental commerce route between Rome and India from the very beginning.
Ivory bag ring in-situ alongside other belt accessories in a woman’s grave at Scremby Photo: ©Hugh Willmott
Up to the 7th century AD, the Kingdom had a significant influence on the supply of ivory. A trade monopoly between the region and the Mediterranean was created at the same time as the early Islamic conquests and expansion into North Africa.
The noticeable decrease in the presence of ivory bag rings in Anglo-Saxon graves dating from the 7th century onwards may have been caused by the disrupted trade routes to the West. Due in part to the re-establishment of Christianity, England also experienced larger changes to burial customs during this period of transition.