Walrus hunting and the ivory trade in early Iceland

Pierce, E. (2009) Walrus hunting and the ivory trade in early Iceland. Archaeologia Islandica, 7, pp. 55-63.

Abstract

This paper examines the hunting and use of walrus ivory in Iceland from the period of settlement to the Middle Ages. Atlantic walrus rarely have been seen and are only occasionally mentioned in written sources in Iceland, but place-names and skeletal finds prove that the animals have lived on its shores. Although overshadowed by the ivory output of Greenland in the Norse Period, several finds of walrus tusks and ivory objects in Iceland demonstrate that the animals were hunted and their ivory possibly worked in Iceland. The use of walrus ivory in Iceland’s past cannot be overlooked: Future research into settlement period sites should yield further evidence of the nature of the ivory trade in medieval Iceland.

• Item Type: Articles (Other)
• Keywords: walrus, walrus ivory, tusks, carving, medieval trade
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Pierce, Dr Elizabeth
• Authors: Pierce, E.
• Subjects: D History General and Old World > DL Northern Europe. Scandinavia
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Archaeology
• Journal Name: Archaeologia Islandica
• Publisher: Fornleifastofnun Íslands
• ISSN: 1560-8026