What Are Elk Ivories and What Is Their Purpose?

Elk ivories are a pair of small, rounded teeth located in the upper jaw of North American elk, right where you might expect fangs or canine teeth. They are true ivory, compositionally similar to what you find in elephant tusks, and they sit as pea-sized remnants of what were once large, prominent fighting teeth in the elk’s ancient ancestors. Every elk carries two of them, one on each side of the upper jaw, and they serve no functional purpose in a modern elk’s life. Their real significance today is cultural: elk ivories have been prized as ornaments and talismans for thousands of years, from Ice Age cave dwellers to contemporary hunters and jewelers.

What Elk Ivories Actually Are

If you pried open an elk’s mouth and looked at the upper jaw, you would find a wide gap where upper front teeth should be, because elk, like all ruminants, lack upper incisors. But tucked back near the corners of that gap, one on each side, are two small, oval teeth about the size of a kidney bean. These are the ivories. They are formally classified as upper canine teeth, even though they look nothing like the sharp canines you would picture on a dog or a cat. They are smooth, slightly humped, and creamy white to pale brown in color, sometimes with darker streaks. The root is longer than the visible crown, so the tooth is larger than it first appears when extracted.

The reason they are called “ivories” is literal: their composition is dentine, the same material that makes up elephant ivory, walrus tusks, and the bulk of all mammalian teeth. The enamel layer on an elk ivory is thin to nearly absent on some surfaces, leaving the dentine exposed. This gives the tooth a warm, slightly waxy luster that distinguishes it from bone or antler. Because genuine ivory is dense, hard, and takes a polish well, elk ivories have been valued as a material for jewelry and decoration far out of proportion to their tiny size.

Both bulls and cows carry ivories. There is some size variation between sexes, with bull ivories typically being slightly larger, but the difference is modest. Calves develop them as part of their permanent dentition. Unlike antlers, which are shed and regrown annually, ivories are permanent teeth that stay with the elk for life, gradually wearing down with age but never falling out on their own.

Why Elk Still Have Canine Teeth They Do Not Use

The short answer is evolutionary inheritance. The ancestors of modern elk had large upper canine teeth that functioned as weapons, much like the tusks you can still see on species such as musk deer, Chinese water deer, and muntjacs. These tusked deer use their elongated canines for fighting rivals during mating season, slashing at competitors with surprising effectiveness. At some point in cervid evolution, antlers began to develop as an alternative weapon and display structure, and as antlers grew more elaborate, upper canines shrank. In modern elk, the antlers do all the work that tusks once did, and the canines have been reduced to small, functionless remnants.

This pattern is visible across the deer family. Species that retain large, prominent tusks tend to have small or absent antlers, and species with elaborate antlers tend to have reduced or absent upper canines. The evolutionary logic is straightforward: maintaining two expensive weapons systems is biologically costly, and selection favored one or the other. Elk landed firmly on the antler side of that equation, but the genetic instructions for upper canines never disappeared entirely. The teeth still develop, they just stop growing long before they could serve any mechanical purpose.

The persistence of these vestigial canines is not unique to elk. Red deer, the elk’s close Eurasian relative, carry virtually identical ivories. Even roe deer, a much smaller species that diverged from the elk lineage long ago, occasionally produce upper canines, though in roe deer the trait is rare rather than universal. A study of over 500 roe deer skulls from the Iberian Peninsula found canines in only about 3.5% of specimens, and their occurrence varied by geographic region, suggesting the trait is a sporadic re-expression of a gene that has been largely silenced in that species.¹ In elk, by contrast, the gene is still fully expressed, and every individual develops the teeth.

The Genetics Behind Disappearing Teeth

The molecular machinery governing tooth development in ruminants is an active area of research. One piece of the puzzle involves signaling proteins that regulate how teeth form during embryonic development. Certain bone-shaping proteins are known to control the size and presence of teeth, and genetic studies on related mammals have shown that removing specific regulatory genes produces animals with dramatically narrowed or absent upper incisors and canines.² In ruminants broadly, the loss of upper incisors and the reduction of upper canines appear to be linked to changes in these same signaling pathways. Elk ivories, then, are not a quirk of one species. They are the visible trace of a genetic program for upper teeth that has been partially switched off across the entire ruminant group, with elk retaining more of the original program than most of their relatives.

This is why elk ivories are sometimes described as “living fossils” in miniature. They are teeth that evolution has been slowly erasing for millions of years but has not yet finished removing. Whether they will eventually disappear entirely is anyone’s guess, but given that they impose almost no metabolic cost on the animal and are embedded in a deeply conserved developmental program, they may persist for a very long time.

Thousands of Years as Human Ornaments

People recognized the appeal of elk ivories, and the ivories of closely related deer, long before recorded history. Archaeological sites across Eurasia have turned up deer canine pendants dating to the Upper Paleolithic, tens of thousands of years ago. At cave sites in the Caucasus region of Georgia, researchers found that the majority of tooth pendants recovered were vestigial canines of red deer, with both male and female deer teeth represented. The same sites also yielded pendants made from other animal teeth, but red deer canines were by far the most common choice.³ In northwest China, a perforated red deer canine bearing geometric engravings was recovered from a Paleolithic site, and broader surveys of the archaeological record confirm that animal tooth pendants were widely used across Eurasia from the onset of the Upper Paleolithic onward.⁴

In North America, elk ivories held particular importance among many Indigenous peoples. They were used as decoration on clothing, especially ceremonial dresses, and could carry significant social meaning. A single dress might be adorned with dozens or even hundreds of elk ivories, representing considerable wealth and hunting success. Because each elk yields only two ivories, a garment covered in them was an unmistakable statement. The teeth were also traded over long distances, appearing at archaeological sites far from elk habitat, which suggests they functioned as a form of portable currency or prestige goods.

Modern Hunting Tradition and Trophy Value

For contemporary elk hunters, the ivories are a cherished keepsake. Extracting the ivories from a harvested elk is a standard part of field processing for many hunters, and it is often the first thing done after the animal is down, partly because the teeth are easy to lose if the head is discarded before they are removed. The extraction is straightforward: a sharp knife is used to cut away the gum tissue along the upper jaw just behind where the incisors would be, exposing the small teeth, which can then be pried or wiggled free with the root intact.

Hunters sometimes keep elk ivories loose in a pouch or jar, but the more common practice is to have them set into jewelry. Rings are the most popular setting, followed by pendants, earrings, tie tacks, and hat pins. A well-matched pair of ivories from a single bull can sell for anywhere from $20 to over $100 depending on size, color, and condition, and custom jewelry settings add considerably to the final price. The market for elk ivory jewelry is small but steady, supported by the overlap between hunting culture and Western-style jewelry traditions, particularly in the Rocky Mountain states.

Elk ivories also hold a special place in the fraternal organization known as the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE). The elk is the organization’s namesake animal, and elk tooth jewelry, especially watch fobs and lapel pins, has been associated with the group since the late 1800s. Antique BPOE elk tooth items are collectible in their own right, and the demand for them helped establish elk ivories as a recognized jewelry material in the American market.

How to Tell Real Elk Ivories from Imitations

Because elk ivories are small, valuable, and limited in supply (two per animal, period), imitations have been around for over a century. The most common substitutes are carved bone, molded resin, porcelain, and, more recently, synthetic ivory compounds. Some fakes are quite convincing at a glance, especially resin castings that replicate the shape and color of a natural tooth.

A few features help distinguish the real thing. Genuine elk ivories have a characteristic shape: slightly asymmetric, with a flattened or concave inner face and a convex outer face. They are heavier than they look because dentine is denser than bone or resin. Under magnification, real ivory shows fine, slightly wavy lines in the dentine called Schreger lines, though in a tooth this small they can be hard to see without a loupe. The surface of a genuine ivory feels smooth and slightly warm to the touch compared to resin, which tends to feel more uniformly cool and plasticky. Perhaps the simplest test is the hot needle test: a heated needle pressed against an inconspicuous spot on a resin fake will melt slightly and produce a chemical smell, while real ivory will not melt and may smell faintly of burning hair due to its protein content.

Antique pieces labeled as elk ivory are sometimes actually made from elk bone or even cattle bone that has been shaped and polished to resemble a tooth. Bone has a more porous, grainy texture under magnification and is typically lighter in weight. If you are buying vintage BPOE jewelry or loose ivories at an estate sale, handling a known-genuine ivory first gives you a good baseline for comparison.

Caring for Elk Ivory Jewelry

Elk ivories are durable but not indestructible. As organic material, they can crack if subjected to rapid temperature changes or prolonged dryness. The biggest enemy of ivory jewelry is dehydration: if a set elk ivory is stored for years in a dry environment, it can develop fine surface cracks called checking. Keeping the piece in a location with moderate humidity and occasionally handling it (the oils from your skin help) goes a long way toward preventing this.

Cleaning is simple. Warm water and a soft cloth are usually sufficient. Avoid ultrasonic cleaners, harsh chemicals, and prolonged soaking, all of which can damage the porous surface of the dentine. If the ivory has yellowed, gentle polishing with a very fine abrasive can restore some of the original color, but heavy polishing removes material and should be done sparingly. Many owners prefer the natural patina that develops over time, viewing it as part of the charm.

One practical note for anyone who inherits or purchases elk ivory: unlike elephant ivory, elk ivories are legal to buy, sell, and transport in the United States without restriction. They are not covered by the Endangered Species Act or CITES, because Rocky Mountain elk are an abundant, managed game species, not a threatened one. This legal clarity is part of why elk ivory jewelry remains a thriving small market when other forms of ivory trade have been heavily regulated or banned outright.

Other Deer Species and Their Vestigial Canines

Elk are not the only cervids with ivories, just the most famous ones in North America. Red deer, which are so closely related to elk that some taxonomists classify them as the same species, carry essentially identical canine teeth. Sika deer, sambar, and several other members of the genus Cervus also have them, though the teeth vary in size across species. Whitetail deer and mule deer, which belong to a different genus, occasionally produce upper canines but far less consistently than elk do. When a whitetail turns up with visible canines, it tends to make the rounds on hunting forums as a curiosity.

At the other end of the spectrum are the deer that kept their tusks. Male Chinese water deer have upper canines that can extend over two inches below the gum line, forming conspicuous downward-pointing fangs. Musk deer have similarly prominent tusks. These species lack antlers entirely. Muntjacs, sometimes called barking deer, split the difference: males have both small antlers and visible upper canines, representing what may be a transitional stage in the evolutionary shift from tusks to antlers. For anyone who finds elk ivories puzzling, looking at a muntjac skull makes the whole story click into place. You can see both weapons side by side, one ascending and one descending, in a single animal.

Elk Ivories in Native and Western Art

Beyond personal jewelry, elk ivories have a long history as an artistic and decorative medium. Among Plains and Plateau peoples, elk tooth dresses were among the most prestigious garments a woman could own. The dresses were typically made of deerskin or elk hide, with rows of ivories sewn across the yoke and sometimes extending down the bodice. Historical accounts describe dresses bearing 300 or more teeth, which would represent the ivories of 150 elk. Creating such a garment was a communal achievement as much as a personal one, often reflecting the hunting success of an entire extended family over many seasons.

In Western decorative arts, elk ivories found their way into belt buckles, bolo ties, money clips, and cufflinks, becoming part of the material vocabulary of Rocky Mountain and Western fashion. Taxidermists sometimes mount elk ivories alongside shoulder or skull mounts, displaying them in a small setting near the base. Custom knife makers occasionally inlay elk ivories into handle scales, combining two traditional hunting materials in a single object. The teeth are small enough to work as accent elements without dominating a design, which gives them unusual versatility as a decorative material.

Contemporary Native artists continue to incorporate elk ivories into regalia and fine art jewelry, and some work to distinguish traditional Indigenous use from the commercial Western market. The cultural weight of elk ivories in Indigenous contexts is not purely decorative. In some traditions, the ivories are considered the last part of the elk to decay after death, symbolizing longevity and endurance. That belief gave the teeth a spiritual dimension that shaped how they were used and who was entitled to wear them, a layer of meaning that does not translate directly into their role as hunting souvenirs or fraternal accessories.