11th July 2020

Whale tooth button

With permission from the Australian National Maritime Museum: a whale tooth button: check out https://www.sea.museum/ There is a lot to browse online.

According to the museum : “A whale tooth button most likely made from a whale caught in waters off South Australia. Whalebone was a popular medium used to make decorative and functional items as it was both strong and yet able to be polished and carved.” Note that the museum uses both the terms tooth and bone, which is a little confusing. If they are from teeth  then they may be from sperm whales, which are the largest of the toothed whales in Australian waters.

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