INTRODUCTION | WHAT IS IVORY? | THE IVORIES | IDENTIFYING IVORY | GLOSSARY

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IVORY GLOSSARY

AMELOBLAST: enamel forming cell

ARTIODACTYLA: the mammalian order which includes hippos and wart hogs

CASQUE: an enlargement on the upper surface of the bill of a hornbill bird

CEMENTUM: a mineralized dental tissue which covers the dentine and causes the tooth or tusk to adhere to the jaw

CETACEA: the mammalian order which includes dolphins and great whales

CLASS CHARACTERISTICS: features which identify an object as being a member of a group of similar objects

CONCENTRIC: having a common center

CROSS-SECTION: cut a right angle to the long axis

DAHLLITE: a calcium phosphate mineral which comprises the inorganic portion of dentine and bone

DENTINE: a mineralized dental tissue which normally comprises the majority of tooth mass

ENAMEL: a mineralized dental tissue which serves as a temporary or permanent outer covering of a tooth or tusk

EXTANT: in existence, not destroyed or lost

EXTINCT: no longer in existence, died out

FT-IR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy): a non - destructive technique for the chemical analysis of materials based upon molecular interaction with infrared radiation. The analytical product of this technique is expressed in an interferogram.

FOSSILIZATION: the process of replacement of naturally occurring components of a tusk or tooth with the elemental components of its environment

HAVERSIAN SYSTEM: a series of interconnecting fluid transport spaces

HYPERCEMENTOSIS: a condition which results in unusually large depositions of cementum on a tooth

INTERSTITIAL ZONE: an intervening space between convergent areas of dentine

MACROSCOPIC: large enough to be observed with the unaided eye

MANDIBLE: the lower jawbone

MAXILLA: the upper jawbone

MEAN: statistical average

MICROSCOPIC: small enough to require the use of a magnifying lens or microscope, not visible to the unaided eye

ODONTOBLAST: dentine forming cell

PINNIPEDIA: the mammalian order which includes walruses

PRISMATIC: composed of prisms (crystals with specified face and edge configurations)

PROBOSCIDEA: the mammalian order which includes elephants and mammoths

SCHREGER PATTERN: a system of crossing lines which is unique to proboscidean ivory

SCRIMSHAW: engraved or shallowly carved bone or ivory

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