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Bone carving is creatingart,tools, and other goods by carvinganimal bones,antlers, andhorns. It can result in the ornamentation of a bone byengraving, painting or another technique, or the creation of a distinct formed object. Bone carving has been practiced by a variety of world cultures, sometimes as a cheaper, and recently a legal, substitute forivory carving.[2] As a material it is inferior to ivory in terms of hardness, and so the fine detail that is possible, and lacks the "lustrous" surface of ivory. The interior of bones are softer and even less capable of a fine finish, so most uses are as thin plaques, rather than sculpture in the round.[3] But it must always have been much easier to obtain in regions without populations of elephants,walrus or other sources of ivory.
It was important inprehistoric art, with notable figures like theSwimming Reindeer, made of antler, and many of theVenus figurines. TheAnglo-SaxonFranks Casket is a whale bone casket imitating earlier ivory ones.[4] Medieval bone caskets were made by theEmbriachi workshop of north Italy (c. 1375–1425) and others, mostly using rows of thin plaques carved in relief.[5]
Flat bones were also used by artists and craftsmen to try out their designs, especially by metalworkers. Such pieces are known as "trial-pieces".
In July 2021, scientists reported the discovery of a bone carving, one of the world's oldest works of art, made byNeanderthals about 51,000 years ago.[6][7]
Bothwhalebone (baleen) and the normal skeletal whale bones were often carved, especially forscrimshaw and in the Middle Ages.
