MAMMOTH TUSK

I recently had the opportunity to tour an insane private artifact collection.  Mounted in the dining room is this male woolly mammoth tusk from over 50,000 years ago (Cenozoic era, Quaternary period, Pleistocene epoch).  At 11 feet, root to tip, and weighing 121 lbs, it catches your eye from the far end of the hallway and is the focal point of the room.  According to the certificate of authenticity, neatly filed in the catalogue of the collection, the origin of the tusk is Yakutia, Northern Siberia, Russia. 

Definitely not the oldest or most valuable item in the collection (sitting amongst ancient fossils from the Jurassic period, African tribal masks, petrified wood (Triassic period), a 19th century taxidermy bird case, 16th century historical armour and 11th-14th century knightly swords), the scale of the tusk makes it most visually captivating at first glance.   Its placement in a domestic space, combined with the lighting in this moment, made for an unusual monument to land before time.