Abstract
I propose that elephant and walrus ivory were imperfect substitutes in the medieval economy, appreciated and used as distinct substances. This argument draws upon two ongoing debates, though seemingly unrelated –one about the colonization of Greenland, one about a material known in Arabic as khutu. By reading different bodies of research against each other, I propose new avenues for research in the study of medieval art and trade networks. This uses a combination of historical, philological, artifactual, and material-based approaches. Rather than offering solu-tions, this essay seeks to open paths for research by specialists in various disciplines
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