Woolly Mammoth Fossil Ivory "Blue Babe" Pendant | Ice Age Treasures

In honor of Blue Babe. Vivianite forms in the oxygen-free depths of the permafrost — iron phosphate slowly crystallizing in the dark over thousands of years. When the ivory finally thaws and meets air, it oxidizes into that deep, unmistakable blue. It is difficult to preserve — you can easily sand through the layers unless it is done carefully by hand, no mechanicals. The color is still developing. It didn't finish when the mammoth died — it's finishing still. This small piece of Woolly Mammoth tusk had such an incredible blue that I tried my best to preserve every bit of it.

That blue has a name in the fossil world: Blue Babe. In 1979, gold miners near Fairbanks, Alaska unearthed a steppe bison — Bison priscus — so perfectly preserved by permafrost that his hide, muscle, and even stomach contents were intact after roughly 36,000 to 37,000 years. University of Alaska paleontologist R. Dale Guthrie performed one of the most complete large mammal autopsies ever conducted on a Pleistocene animal. Guthrie's team even made a small stew from preserved neck meat. The bison's skin was stained a striking blue-gray from vivianite — the same mineral that colors this pendant — and so he was named Blue Babe, after the legendary blue ox of Paul Bunyan. Blue Babe now stands on permanent display at the University of Alaska Museum of the North in Fairbanks, just miles from where The Boneyard Alaska sources this ivory and brings specimens for identification and testing. The blue in your hands and the blue on Blue Babe come from the same ancient chemistry.

I shaped and polished this fragment as a cabochon-style pendant to preserve the bark layer, where the vivianite staining and tusk lines run deepest. This isn't the fragile crystalline kind that brushes away — it's locked into the material itself. Stable, permanent, and wearable.

Fossil ivory is a natural organic material. Touch it — the oils from your skin actually help nourish it over time. Handle it with intention and feel the "Mammoth Magic".

This is a one-of-a-kind piece. All fossil ivory is sourced by the Reeves family at The Boneyard Alaska from ancient permafrost deposits in Fairbanks, Alaska — genuine Ice Age fossil ivory from extinct Woolly Mammoths. No modern animals are harmed. Provenance documentation included.

• Material: Woolly Mammoth fossil ivory — bark layer with vivianite blue mineralization
• Finish: Hand shaped and polished cabochon-style pendant
• Bail: Gold plate
• Length: 1"
• One of a kind — this exact piece only
• Ethically sourced fossil ivory, legally acquired