Products from mammoth Tusk in Yakutia in the 18th century (based on the materials of funerary monuments)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of products made from mammoth Tusk in Yakut burials of the 18th century. The work is based on literary and archival as well as on the collections of the museums. Analysis of products made from mammoth Tusk showed that they were not widely distributed among the Yakuts. This could be due to the fact that in the religious beliefs of the peoples of Yakutia the mammoth had a negative colour. Two movements of carving from a mammoth Tusk in the 18th century were revealed. The first movement was based on the traditions and techniques of local carving, and the second one was based on imitation of the Northern Russian school.