Ice Age carvers patterned mammoth tusks into art, new study shows
New analysis of 18 mammoth-ivory Venus figurines from Mizyn, Ukraine, shows Ice Age artisans deliberately echoed the tusk’s natural Schreger and Owen growth lines in their engravings, revealing a sophisticated Eastern European artistic approach and suggesting an independent artistic lineage that emerged earlier than Western European styles; researchers used high-resolution microscopy and 3D modeling, with digital scanning enabling study amid wartime access limits.