Archaeologists in Russia have uncovered a rare medieval artifact: a large wild boar tusk mounted with an engraved metal cap, likely carried by a warrior or nobleman as a good-luck charm. The find was made in Novgorod the Great, one of the oldest major cities in Russia, and dates to between the mid-12th and early 13th century.
The tusk is not complete, but what remains measures 3.9 inches, or 10 centimeters, long and 1.1 inches, or 2.8 centimeters, at its widest point. That is already unusually large. According to Live Science, researchers determined the tusk came from a wild boar that was at least 8 years old and weighed more than 220 pounds, or 100 kilograms.
"It's extraordinary because of its size. It's extremely big," said Natalia Eniosova, co-author of the study and a metal scientist in the Department of Archaeology at Lomonosov Moscow State University.
Eniosova explained that an animal of that size would not have been targeted for food. Domestic pigs were the more practical and common food source at the time. Wild boar hunting in medieval Russia was a different matter entirely. Historical texts indicate it was a privilege reserved for the druzhina, the military retinue, and the nobility. The boar may have been eaten after the hunt, but the researchers could not confirm that.
The metal cap mounted on the tusk added another layer of mystery. At first glance it appeared to be silver. Closer analysis told a different story. The cap was made of an almost entirely tin-based alloy, specifically a silver-imitating tin-lead mixture. Tin was not as valuable as silver, but it was still rare in medieval Europe because local sources were limited.
What made the craftsmanship notable was how the material was worked. Tin is a soft metal, and carving detailed engravings into it is difficult. "It wouldn't have been easy, and this ornament is quite elaborate," Eniosova said. "It's a very, very well-done object."
The tusk was found in a section of the Troitsky XVI excavation area that researchers believe was home to wealthy residents. That location, combined with the size of the boar, the quality of the engraving, and the association of boar hunting with the elite, pointed researchers toward a specific conclusion about who owned the object and why.
The study was recently published in the journal The Volga River Region Archaeology. In it, the researchers wrote that the mounted tusk most likely served a symbolic purpose beyond decoration. "It is highly probable that this mounted tusk functioned as a martial or hunting talisman," they wrote. "It symbolized the transfer of the beast's physical prowess to the hunter."
The combination of the boar's exceptional size, the rarity of the material, and the skill required to produce the engraving makes the artifact unusual even by the standards of medieval finds. Eniosova said the object probably belonged to an aristocrat, a noble, or a military man, someone for whom both the hunt and the trophy would have carried social meaning.
