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

ivory from a burnt deposit in Thebes (Reese and Krzyszkowska 1996: 325;
Krzyszkowska 1993: 30).
So much for the Mycenaean workshop material. Much of the ivory in the
Cyclades probably arrived already worked and the volume was not great (Krzyszkowska
1990: 112-113). However, a small rectangular piece of ivory, possibly a blank, was
recovered at Ayios Irini, Kea (Krzyszkowska 1993: 32). Much later in the seventh
century B.C. unworked hippopotamus ivory tusks were left as offerings at the Heraion on
Samos (Reese 1998: 142; Krzyszkowska 1990: 20).
Ivory Workshops in Anatolia
The ivory carving tradition is also separated into two phases, that of the Assyrian
Colony period (19 th -18 th centuries B.C.), and the Hittite empire period (14 th -13 th centuries
B.C.). The Assyrian Colony period is represented by finds from Kültepe, Acemhöyük,
and Eskiyapur, whereas the Hittite empire ivory derives from Bogazköy and Beycesultan.
Bourgeois (1993) addresses the material from the first period, and while this lies a bit
before the period with which the present investigation is concerned, some details are in
order. In a complex near the palace at Acemhöyük (which was destroyed circa 1750
B.C.) was a completely mineralized tusk of Elephas maximas, in addition to numerous
fragments of elephant ivory and a variety of pre-cut pieces suggesting active ivory
production (Bourgeois 1993: 61-63; Krzyszkowska 1990: 50). Manufactured objects
such as pyxides were also made of elephant ivory. For hippopotamus ivory, however,
only finished objects were recovered, and these were fashioned from lower incisors and
canines. Caubet considers the hippopotamus ivory goods as imported from Syria
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