Most of the hard, creamy-white substance called ivory comes from the tusks of African elephants. The ivory in the tusks of a big elephant may weigh as much as 200 pounds. Some ivory is found buried in the ground in northern countries. It comes from the tusks of mammoths and mastodons that lived there thousands of years ago during the great Ice Age. A little ivory comes from walrus tusks.
Ivory can be carved easily. It can be beautifully polished, too. It is used for billiard balls, piano keys, chessmen, knife handles, and many other such things.
People have used ivory ever since the days of the cave men. The Egyptians had many beautiful ivory objects, and India has long been famous for its intricate ivory carvings. King Solomon, the Bible tells us, had a whole throne carved out of ivory.
