Museum ID: WNDRB : 317.55
Indian elephant's molar tooth from its jaw 'upper M3'. This was found in Taplow gravel beds, near Maidenhead. When is was found remains unknow however the museum acquired it in the 1950s. It was originally recorded in the museum collection as having been a Mammoth's tooth. In 2011 curators at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History identified the tooth as an upper molar of an Indian elephant, and explained that the Indian Elephant is a close relative to the mammoth with very similar teeth which would explain the previous misidentification. Being Indian elephant (perhaps a circus elephant?) and its good condition is has been dated as being circa 1900.Measurements: 200 x 220 x 85
Materials: Bone
Categorised under: Archaeology and Ancient