Nowadays, elephants are considered popular among the general public and they are also regarded scientifically important as keystone and flagship species. However, elephants have been an integral part of human history since the ancient times. Elephant ivory has been a valued commodity creating some of the oldest trade routes. Yet, the ivory trade is not a thing of the past. Poaching for ivory is currently recognized as the primary cause of elephant deaths and both African elephant species are threatened by extinction. While elephant ivory has been flowing into Europe for thousands of years and continues to do so, little is known about the elephants and humans involved in the trade. Here, I propose to track the European ivory trade across time, space, and scientific fields. I will work with a network of international and interdisciplinary collaborators on addressing two main questions. First, the project aims to illuminate the present-day ivory trade networks by applying cutting-edge genomic tools into identifying the origin of ivory confiscated in Europe and the connections between seizures. Second, the project aims to retrieve and analyze ancient DNA from tusks and worked ivory located in European museums and archaeological collections, in order to study the intertwined human-elephant history and provide insights into the ancient Mediterranean ivory trade and extinct elephant populations. The findings of this project have the potential to yield important scientific breakthroughs and high-profile publications, but also serve as a unique source of knowledge in evolution, archaeology, palaeontology, history, and conservation.