Surface analysis of an eagle talon from Krapina

Davorka Radovčić,David W Frayer,Ankica Oros Sršen,Lisa Vaccari,Jakov Radovčić,Giovanni Birarda

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-62938-4

Abstract

The Krapina white-tailed eagle talons represent a kind of jewelry worn by Krapina Neandertals some 130,000 years ago. New inspection of one Krapina talon (386.1) revealed a fiber, sealed by a thin silicate coating, adhering to the surface within a wide cut mark, as well as concentrated traces of occasional spots of red and yellow pigment and some black stains. We analyzed the fiber and small portions of pigmented areas by non-invasive, infrared synchrotron beam. Different areas were targeted, revealing the protein nature of the fiber, identified as of animal origin. Targeted areas revealed intra- and inter-strand aggregation indicating the fiber to be collagen losing its original triple α-helix conformation, further confirming the diagenetic decay of the original collagen structure and the antiquity of the fiber. It is possible that the fiber is a remnant of the leather or sinew string binding the talons together. Spectroscopic analysis of the pigments in two isolated areas confirmed two types of ochre and that the dark spots are charcoal remnants. Applying novel non-invasive technologies provides new possibilities to further test the hypothesis of using prehistoric objects for symbolic purposes.

Highlights

The Krapina white-tailed eagle talons represent a kind of jewelry worn by Krapina Neandertals some 130,000 years ago
We are uncertain when the talon was sealed by the silicate coating, but it was not recent based on our analysis described below
Infrared spectrometry confirmed that the analyzed talon preserves traces of a collagen band, two different kinds of ochre and charcoal

Summary

Introduction

The Krapina white-tailed eagle talons represent a kind of jewelry worn by Krapina Neandertals some 130,000 years ago. We analyzed the fiber and small portions of pigmented areas by non-invasive, infrared synchrotron beam. The fact that eight talons were found in the same context together with an additional phalanx, and the fact that all of them contain evidence of anthropogenic modifications such as cut marks, nicks from the medial and lateral aspects of the plantar surface, and several heavily polished areas suggest that these were an assemblage worn as jewelry. Raptor talons and phalanges have been found at various European Neandertal sites, together with the remains of Mousterian and Châtelperronian techno-cultures[12,13,14,15,16,17] All these sites provide evidence of never more than a single talon in the same archaeological level.

Methods

Results

Conclusion