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Tracing the Source of the Elephant And Hippopotamus Ivory from ...

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presented as tribute to one’s subjects. But equality was emphasized perhaps because <strong>the</strong><br />

ruling elite were matched well in <strong>the</strong> specific political configuration <strong>of</strong> power, but also as<br />

an inversion <strong>of</strong> (or reaction to) <strong>the</strong> growing inequality within societies, inequalities which<br />

would eventually come to a head at <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> LBA with <strong>the</strong> mass destruction and<br />

population movements throughout <strong>the</strong> eastern Mediterranean.<br />

A successful isotopic provenancing <strong>of</strong> ivory would have <strong>the</strong>refore said something<br />

about <strong>the</strong> circulation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se symbols amongst <strong>the</strong> upper crust <strong>of</strong> society in <strong>the</strong> eastern<br />

Mediterranean. The degree to which <strong>the</strong> objects were passed <strong>from</strong> one ruler to ano<strong>the</strong>r in<br />

a “prestige chain network” (Peltenberg 1991: 168) would be evident, but more important,<br />

<strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r trade cycles operating alongside and perhaps outside <strong>of</strong> royal trade initiatives<br />

would be finally documented if <strong>the</strong> ivory samples <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> Uluburun shipwreck were<br />

shown to come <strong>from</strong> a variety <strong>of</strong> sources. This merchant, commercially-oriented, trade is<br />

widely suspected to have existed, but could rendered particularly archaeologically visible<br />

if it were shown to operate even in <strong>the</strong> realm <strong>of</strong> a material assumed to be <strong>the</strong> primarily<br />

controlled by <strong>the</strong> palace centers. The Uluburun ship may be a royal exchange venture,<br />

but <strong>the</strong> extent <strong>of</strong> trade in ivory before it was loaded onto <strong>the</strong> boat could be ascertained.<br />

183

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