Mammoth Ivory Research Articles

Micro-PIXE/PIGE analysis of Palaeolithic mammoth ivory: Potential chemical markers of provenance and relative dating

Micro-Proton Induced X-ray and Gamma-ray Emission (micro-PIXE/PIGE) provide non-destructive methods for the evaluation of the major, minor and trace element compositions of archaeological material. The current study applies micro-PIXE/PIGE analysis to mammoth ivory artefacts from four Palaeolithic sites (Abri Castanet, Vogelherd Cave, Grottes de la Verpillière I and II) in France and Germany in order to assess the effectiveness of this approach to material older than 30,000yBP. It has thus far not been established whether such methods of analysis can yield results of scientific and archaeological interest on ivory material that has undergone such extended periods of diagenesis. This approach evaluated preservation state in terms of mean elemental concentrations (Mg vs. Ca) and a comparative assessment of F-content as an indication of relative burial time. The results also indicate that analysis of trace elements (Sr, Zn, Br) can provide chemical markers of archaeological provenance. The results of this study are compared to data in the existing database established by the same methods of analysis on ivory objects from several different time periods and archaeological sources. The implications of these results for the study of archaeological ivories from Palaeolithic contexts are discussed.

The phenomenon of Gravettian necklaces – Mammoth ivory necklaces from Dolní Věstonice I (Moravia, Czech Republic)

This paper discusses the phenomenon of mammoth ivory necklaces from Dolní Věstonice I (Moravia, Czech Republic). The ivory artefacts were described by the excavator K. Absolon in 1937 as necklaces, and this primary interpretation is still in use today. In this case, mammoth ivory was worked into repeating standardised forms of various size, which are almost absent elsewhere in the Upper Palaeolithic. The seven artefacts were here examined for their state of conservation, manufacturing technology, decorating style and supposed functional purpose. Partial reconstruction of the chaîne opératoire can enable integration of these artefacts into the style of mammoth ivory processing at this Gravettian site, and help to define the status of this raw material.

Characterization of Elephant and Mammoth Ivory by Solid State NMR

Ivory has always been considered one of the most attractive and valuable biological gem materials. It is tooth dentin, or the yellowish white, calcified, extremely elastic tissue that forms the tusks of several mammalian species. Microscopic examination of the surface in all possible directions is needed to a successful identification of cut and polished samples of ivory, but sometimes it is not enough. Supplemental techniques should be used for assisting discrimination of elephant (both Loxodonta africana and Elephas maximus ) ivory and wholly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ) ivory, because from a textural standpoint they can be remarkably similar. To provide the key identifying features of these two types of ivory is nowadays of special significance, due to the fact that elephant ivory trade and import and export are illegal, whereas wholly mammoth tusks may be legally exported and manufactured. Both materials are formed primarily from nanocrystals of biological calcium orthophosphate that are embedded in a type I collagen matrix. By exploiting 1 H, 13 C and 31 P magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR we investigated the composition of several elephant and mammoth ivory specimens. 13 C MAS NMR spectra confirmed the presence of the CO 3 2- group associated to the carbonated hydroxyapatite in both ivory types. In the collagen structure no differences have been highlighted. Quantitative 31 P MAS NMR spectra revealed important features about the inorganic matrix. The high resolution allowed us to achieve the simultaneous detection of the signal assigned to the bulk PO 4 3- groups of the hydroxyapatite phase and of minor side peaks ascribed to unprotonated surface sites PO x (PO, PO 2 - and PO 3 2- ) and to protonated sites PO x H on the surface of the nano-sized crystals of the hydroxyapatite.

Ultrashort pulsed laser (USPL) application in dentistry: basic investigations of ablation rates and thresholds on oral hard tissue and restorative materials

Modern ultrashort pulse lasers with scanning systems provide a huge set of parameters affecting the suitability for dental applications. The present study investigates thresholds and ablation rates of oral hard tissues and restorative materials with a view towards a clinical application system. The functional system consists of a 10 W Nd:YVO4 laser emitting pulses with a duration of 8 ps at 1,064 nm. Measurements were performed on dentin, enamel, ceramic, composite, and mammoth ivory at a repetition rate of 500 kHz. By employing a scanning system, square-shaped cavities with an edge length of 1 mm were created. Ablation threshold and rate measurements were assessed by variation of the applied fluence. Examinations were carried out employing a scanning electron microscope and optical profilometer. Irradiation time was recorded by the scanner software in order to calculate the overall ablated volume per time. First high power ablation rate measurements were performed employing a laser source with up to 50 W. Threshold values in the range of 0.45 J/cm(2) (composite) to 1.54 J/cm(2) (enamel) were observed. Differences between any two materials are statistically significant (p < 0.05). Preparation speeds up to 37.53 mm(3)/min (composite) were achieved with the 10 W laser source and differed statistically significant for any two materials (p < 0.05) with the exception of dentin and mammoth ivory (p > 0.05). By employing the 50 W laser source, increased rates up to ∼50 mm(3)/min for dentin were obtained. The results indicate that modern USPL systems provide sufficient ablation rates to be seen as a promising technology for dental applications.

Technological Data on Mammoth Ivory Engraving in the Epigravettian: the Case of Mezin (Ukraine)

Technological Data on Mammoth Ivory Engraving in the Epigravettian: the Case of Mezin (Ukraine)

Man and Environment in the Late Pleistocene - Early Holocene of Central Mediterranean Basin (an example from Sicily)

As the main external driver, environmental changes largely predetermine human population distribution, especially in the Arctic, where environmental conditions were often too extreme for human survival. Not that long ago the only evidence of human presence here was the Berelekh site in the lower reaches of the Indighirka River. This landmark dates to 13,000–12,000 years ago but it was widely accepted as documentation of the earliest stage of human dispersal in the Arctic. New research discussed here, shows that humans began colonizing the Siberian Arctic at least by the end of the early stage of MIS 3 at around 45,000 years ago. For now, this earliest known stage of human occupation in the arctic regions is documented by the evidence of human hunting. The archaeological record of continued human occupation is fragmentary; nevertheless, evidence exists for each significant phase including the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Siberian Arctic human populations were likely supported by the local mammoth population, which provided humans with food and raw material in the form of mammoth tusks. Processing of mammoth ivory is recognized widely as one of the most important peculiarities of the material culture of ancient humans. In fact, ivory tool manufacturing is one of the most important innovations of the Upper Palaeolithic in northern Eurasia. Technology that allowed manufacturing of long ivory shafts – long points and full-size spears – was critical in the tree-less open landscapes of Eurasian mammoth steppe belt. These technological skills reach their greatest extent and development shortly before the Last Glacial Maximum but are recognizable until the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary across Northern Eurasia in all areas populated by mammoths and humans. Loss of this stable source of raw material due to the late Pleistocene mammoth extinction may have provoked a shift in post-LGM Siberia to the Beringian microblade tradition. This paper reviews the most important archaeological findings made in arctic Siberia over the last twenty years.

Upper Paleolithic Osseous Materials Artefacts from Piatra Neamț – Poiana Cireșului. 2010-2011 Excavation Campaigns

The 2010 and 2011 archaeological excavations from the well-known site from Piatra Neamţ-Poiana Cireşului, Neamţ County (dated from Upper Paleolithic – Gravettian culture) led by Professor Marin Cârciumaru (“Valahia” University, Târgovişte) offered the opportunity of recovering an assemblage of osseous materials artefacts comprising 11 pieces made of mammoth ivory and reindeer antler. They were recovered from S VIII/2010 and S XI/2011. The importance of this assemblage is underlined by their rarity in the Romanian Upper Paleolithic discoveries. The typological classification revealed the existence of followings categories (according to Beldiman 2007 Typological List) : I. Tools ; II. Weapons ; V. Varia – Technical pieces, debris. The last category is predominant and it is represented by : segments of reindeer tines (5) and beam (1). They are followed by the finished objects (4) : an ivory spear point ; a reindeer spear point ; an end scraper made of reindeer tine ; an end scraper made of a fragment of reindeer beam. There is a single blank made of reindeer beam that probably was prepared to obtain an end scraper or a spear point. The analysis of the artefacts allowed us to observe some manufacturing schemes applied during the processing of reindeer antler or the manufacturing stages of certain types of pieces (ivory and reindeer spear points ; end scrapers made of reindeer tine or beam). Also, we could reconstruct the technological environment in which those artefacts were used. Here we may mention : the débitage of the reindeer antler by direct percussion/chopping with a massive lithic piece ; direct percussion/ fracture with a lithic hammer ; groove and splinter technique applied on the opposed surfaces of the reindeer beam with the purpose of detaching a segment or tine ; this was followed by the direct percussion/chopping. The shaping stage is represented by two simple procedures : axial scraping and direct percussion, followed by chopping technique. The intense axial scraping is used in order to obtain smooth surfaces ; this is the case of ivory and reindeer antler spear points. In order to obtain the active parts of the end scrapers the direct percussion/chopping, followed by the axial scraping were applied. There are no clear usewear traces because the surfaces were affected by the taphonomic processes like the corrosion produced by the soil acids and the roots of the plants, fissures and exfoliations etc. The osseous materials industry from the site attests some economic activities. The archaeological contexts connect the artefacts with hunting/ weaponry, with the processing of the reindeer carcasses/hides and with the process of transforming various raw materials. The artefact PNC/2010 5 offers an important clue regarding the season in which the site was inhabited. The piece is a base of a reindeer beam gathered in the autumn time (in October-November). This detail is added to the observations that were obtained during the archaeozoological analysis and it underlines the hypothesis according to which the site was inhabited during the autumn time. Even if the assemblage is composed of few artefacts, they offer important chrono-cultural and paleotechnological observations in terms of a complex and extensive approach of manifestations of civilisation and culture in the Paleolithic communities. The osseous materials industry analysed with this occasion is included in above mentioned context. In this respect, the general catalogue of discoveries was augmented with pieces that were used like spear armatures (made of mammoth ivory and reindeer antler) or with tools (reindeer end scrapers used for carcass processing and for hides working. These could have also been used like daggers.). We have to underline the importance of the mammoth ivory piece that increases the number of these artefacts at 5 in Piatra Neamţ-Poiana Cireşului site. At the moment, this is the most important Romanian site with pieces made of ivory dated from the Upper Paleolithic.

A Cognitive Approach to the Earliest Art

painters of Chauvet, Cosquer, and Altamira de Paleolithic paintings, sculptures, and engravings pict large terrestrial mammals and birds mainly are unequivocally recognized as art: many hisas a source of aesthetic pleasure, a form of torical overviews of art start with prehistoric art for art's sake?6 Were the paintings pri material, usually Franco-Cantabrian cave paintmarily meant to be accurate depictions of an ings from Chauvet, Lascaux, and Altamira.1 The imals, similar to instructive illustrations in field recent archaeological discovery of older symbolic guides, used for educational purposes?7 Or do the artifacts may push back the time when the earlicave walls bear evidence of encounters with the est art appeared. These artifacts include objects denizens of the spirit world during trancelike in bone, ochre, and ostrich eggshell with geostates in shamanic rituals?8 Cluster concepts, as metric engravings from southern Africa, dated to advocated by, among others, Gaut and Dutton, 77,000-55,000 BP, and figurative mammoth ivory involve a list of features that are typical for art sculptures from Swabia, southwestern Germany objects, but it is unclear which of these apply to (40,000-32,000 BP).2 What warrants the intuition Paleolithic art; for example, are they expressive that these objects are artworks?3 After all, the culof emotion (Gaut), or was there anything akin to tural and social contexts of these Ice Age artifacts artistic criticism (Dutton)?9 Historical definitions differ from those of the modern world, and there cannot easily accommodate first art either because are no written records to reconstruct their meanthey have a recursive structure; they define art ings and functions. works by virtue of their relationship to earlier art First art is a theoretical concept that denotes works, and, again, we know nothing of these.10 The the earliest artworks within a particular tradiphilosophical analysis of first art presents prob tion.4 Arguably, multiple artworks qualify as first lems additional to that of non-Western art. In both art: archaeological evidence indicates that some cases, one cannot indiscriminately apply criteria forms of art emerged independently at differspecific to Western art; a focus on Western art ent times across the world, a pattern that canin aesthetic theories has left other artistic tradi not be explained by gaps in the archaeological tions underanalyzed.11 Though one can often rely record alone. To give but one example, figurative on ethnographic information to get insights into painting appears significantly earlier in Europe the function and aesthetic significance of these (33,000 BP, Chauvet Cave, France) than in Africa objects, this information is unavailable for first (27,000-25,000 BP, Apollo 11 Cave, Namibia) or art.12 East Asia (10,000 BP, Borneo), suggesting that Yet, as Davies observes, acknowledge figurative painting may have been invented indement of certain items as first art seems to rest pendently in disparate cultures.5 First art presents on our direct recognition of them as such, not on a puzzle to most recent concepts of art, because abstract reasoning.13 In a similar vein, Lamarque these require cultural contextual information on reflects that what is most striking about all Pa the function, producers, and the art critical conleolithic cave painting is the sense of affinity that text in which artworks are made—information modern viewers experience, despite the immense

The Barma Grande cave (Grimaldi, Vintimiglia, Italy): From Neandertal, hunter of “Elephas antiquus”, to Sapiens with ornaments of mammoth ivory

In 1884 the Barma Grande cave (Grimaldi, Ventimiglia, Italy) entered history following the research of L. Jullien and S. Bonfils who discovered, buried at a depth of 8.4 m, a grave dating from the Upper Paleolithic: “le nouvel homme de Menton”. Subsequently, there were the excavations by the quarry-worker Abbo and his sons, which revealed new burials, including a triple burial which included ornaments crafted from mammoth ivory (discovered in 1892) and remnants of a late “Elephas antiquus” in a Mousterian level. Starting in 1928, the research of A. Mochi, G.A. Blanc and L. Cardini highlighted the site’s stratigraphy: at the base, a Tyrrhenian marine level (MIS 5.5); above, a long continental sequence from the middle Paleolithic including several Mousterian hearths with a fauna composed of large mammals, including the remains of “E. antiquus”.The study of the material of the Bonfils excavations, preserved at the Musée de Préhistoire Régionale of Menton, and of the Abbo excavations preserved at the Balzi Rossi Museum allowed attribution of all of the graves to the early and middle Gravettian level with its “fléchettes“. Moreover, in the highest sequence of the site (MIS 2), mammoth bone remains have been found, as well as ivory funerary ornaments in the triple burial and in the burial known as of "l’homme aux jambes croisées". Although very rare, there are sporadic mammoth remains in some sites in Liguria, but it is primarily in western Gravettian hunter sites in the low valley of the Rhône that this animal is well represented. The sites were on the road for zoned flint (Stampien), a material that was both exotic and prestigious, constituting a funerary offering given by the Gravettians of Liguria. The “E. antiquus” of the lower levels (MIS 3 to 5), present in the Mousterian levels, not only indicates the persistence of this animal until MIS 3 (when it took refuge in Provence and Liguria), but provided material for tools made from elephant ivory by the last Neandertal hunters.

Rectangular Beads from the Final Gravettian Level of the Abri Pataud: Raw Material Identification and its Archaeological Implications

The Final Gravettian level (level 2) of the abri Pataud (Dordogne, France) yielded a large assemblage of body ornaments that consists essentially of 85 quite standardized rectangular beads. Some uncertainty remained about the raw material in which these small beads were made: mammoth ivory, reindeer antler or bone? Non-invasive methods were employed in order to determine the raw material. First chemical analyses using microbeam Proton Induced X-ray Emission analysis (microPIXE) did not enable us to conclude definitively. Therefore, synchrotron and laboratory X-ray microtomography (microCT) were applied on eight beads and allowed us to identify ivory for all of them except for one, which shows slightly different morphological features.

An Interim Investigation of the Potential of Vibrational Spectroscopy for the Dating of Cultural Objects in Ivory

Radiocarbon dating of ivory requires destructive sampling on a scale not always compatible with the requirements of the preservation and curation of cultural objects. The development of a minimally-destructive dating technique is urgently needed. Raman spectroscopy can detect the changes in the organic and inorganic molecular components of ivory that occur with time. It has been suggested that these vibrational spectroscopic changes could be used to assess the relative date of mammoth ivories, assuming that the state of preservation of the ivory is directly related to its age. This paper tests this assumption with specimens of mammoth ivory of known date and burial environment and concludes that the vibrational spectra of ivory cannot in general be used to deduce the age of the specimen.

The death and burial of sunghir 1

ABSTRACTThe Mid Upper Paleolithic Sunghir 1 burial of an older adult male is one of the most elaborate burials known, with red ochre, thousands of mammoth ivory beads, and other body ornaments. Reanalysis and cleaning of the skeletal remains revealed a perimortem incision in the ventral–lateral first thoracic vertebra (T1) body, most likely from a sharp blade or point and the probable cause of death. Context indicates that the trauma was most likely from a hunting accident or social altercation. The unusual cause of death may be correlated with the exceptional burial elaboration of Sunghir 1, adding to the high frequency of unusual individuals in the ‘red ochre’ burials of the Mid Upper Paleolithic. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

New ivory worries

The ban on the trade in ivory is under new threat from an unusual source: ancient ivory from woolly mammoths. The bodies of thousands of mammoths have been found preserved in the frozen Siberian tundra, and the ivory tusks are the best preserved feature of them all. But the trade in ivory from the ancient tusks is now thought to be a risk for the future of African elephants, conservationists fear. One report suggests that as much as 60 tonnes of Siberian mammoth tusks are being exported from Russia every year, mostly to China, where they end up in the workshops of its flourishing ivory-carve trade, being turned into brooches, pendants, figurines and thousands of other ivory objects. Conservationists are concerned that this legal trade could be used as a front for the laundering of illegally poached elephant ivory, thereby fuelling the killing of elephants. The trade in African elephant ivory was outlawed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) in 1989, to halt the steep decline in elephant numbers. “Wild elephant populations were decimated by the ivory trade. By the time the 1989 Cites ban came into force, Africa's elephants had been reduced by more than 50 per cent,” says Mark Jones, programmes director at Care for the Wild, an international wildlife charity which commissioned the mammoth ivory report. “Poaching continues to threaten wild elephants. Anything that encourages the continued demand for ivory products, whether mammoth ivory or elephant ivory, could possibly exacerbate this threat.” The report was carried out by Edmond and Chrysee Martin, and paints a picture of a valuable business in extinct animals — worth more than $20 million per year. Their report points out that trade in woolly mammoth ivory has been going on between Russia and the rest of Asia for many years, but declined sharply in the communist years from 1917 to 1991.

THE MAMMOTH AND THE MODERN MIND

This 3.7-cm-long mammoth (below), carved from mammoth ivory, was unearthed last summer in Germany. At a press conference last week, University of Tübingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard said it is the first complete carving discovered in the Swabian Jura, a cave-riddled limestone plateau in southwestern Germany that has been a hotbed of research on Europe's earliest anatomically modern humans.

Ancient biodeterioration: an FT–Raman spectroscopic study of mammoth and elephant ivory

Raman spectra of mammoth ivory specimens have been recorded using near-infrared excitation, and comparisons made with modern Asian and African elephant ivories. Whereas the most ancient mammoth ivory (60-65 ky) showed no evidence for an organic collagen component, more recent samples of mammoth ivory indicated that some preservation had occurred, although with biodeterioration of the protein structure exhibited by the amide I and III bands in the 1200-1700 cm(-1) region of the Raman spectrum. The consequent difficulties encountered when applying chemometrics methods to ancient ivory analysis (which are successful for modern specimens) are noted. In the most ancient mammoth ivory specimens, which are extensively fragmented, evidence of mineralization is seen, with the production of gypsum, calcite and limonite; Raman microscopic analysis of crystalline material inside the fissures of the mammoth ivory shows the presence of gypsum as well as cyanobacterial colonisation. The application of Raman spectroscopy to the nondestructive analysis of archaeological materials in order to gain information of relevance to their preservation or restoration is highlighted.

Palaeolithic ivory sculptures from southwestern Germany and the origins of figurative art.

Archaeologists have always viewed the origin of figurative art as a crucial threshold in human evolution. Here I report the discovery of three figurines carved from mammoth ivory at Hohle Fels Cave in the Swabian Jura of southwestern Germany, which provides new evidence for the appearance of figurative art more than 30,000 years ago. The finds include the oldest known representation of a bird, a therianthropic sculpture and an animal that most closely resembles a horse. The Aurignacian sculptures of the Swabian Jura belong to one of the oldest traditions of figurative art known worldwide and point to the Upper Danube as an important centre of cultural innovation during the early Upper Palaeolithic period.

New forensic tool for the identification of elephant or mammoth ivory

A new method for the analysis and the identification of elephant and mammoth ivory is reported; this fast and non-macroscopically disruptive method, based on the thermogravimetric analysis, is useful in the characterization of elephant ivory which is often illegally imported, with respect to mammoth ivory which can be used with no restrictions. By the characteristic thermal profile, the nature of the analyzed sample can be easily proved; moreover, no pretreatments are required by this simple but very sensitive technique. The results are compared with those obtained by the classic method, and the thermogravimetric method is proposed as a routine technique in forensic investigations because of its low cost and the easy-to-read diagnostic answer. The very low quantity of ivory needed (about 2–3 mg) allows the application of this technique to manufactures without any damage or loss of the analyzed sample.

Fourier-transform Raman spectroscopy of ivory: II. Spectroscopic analysis and assignments

The FT-Raman spectra of African and Asian elephant and woolly mammoth ivory are reported and comprehensive molecular vibrational assignments are proposed. Since ivory is composed of proteinaceous collagen embedded in an inorganic matrix of carbonated hydroxyapatite, the Raman spectrum of pure natural collagen recorded under similar conditions aids the identification of the vibrational modes. Several bands are identified which could be used for the Raman spectroscopic characterisation of the mammalian ivories studied.

Contribution of isotopic biogeochemistry (13C,15N,18O) to the paleoecology of mammoths(mammuthus primigenius)

Carbon isotopic abundances in Alaskan, Albertan and Russian mammoths indicate a diet of C3‐plants. The relatively high nitrogen isotopic abundances suggest arid conditions in Alberta and Alaska during the last ice age, and similar conditions in Russia. Nitrogen isotopic abundances are higher in mammoths relative to coeval herbivores, which may be due to differences in protein content of their diet. Oxygen isotopic abundances are similar in mammoths and in modern mammals from the same areas. The characteristic isotopic signature of mammoth ivory allows distinction from elephant or marine mammal ivory.

The History and Significance of the Schreger Pattern in Proboscidean Ivory Characterization

Proboscidean ivories display a uniquely identifiable pattern of crossing lines in transverse section. Until recently this pattern, properly called the Schreger Pattern, was effectively indistinguishable in the three main commercial sources of proboscidean ivory: the woolly mammoth and two modem elephant genera. The Schreger Pattern contains apparent angles that are acute (<90°) in mammoth ivory and obtuse (>115°) in modem elephant ivories. The ability to differentiate extinct mammoth from modem elephant ivories in carved objects by Schreger angle measurement facilitates international enforcement of laws concerned with protection of elephants through ivory trade restrictions. It also helps the efforts of the art conservation and archaeological communities through improved curatorial identification potential.