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Combined Non‐invasive PIXE/PIGE Analyses of Mammoth Ivory from Aurignacian Archaeological Sites
Author(s) -
Reiche Ina,
Heckel Claire,
Müller Katharina,
Jöris Olaf,
Matthies Tim,
Conard Nicholas J.,
Floss Harald,
White Randall
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201712911
Subject(s) - aurignacian , mammoth , archaeology , geology , geography , cave
Among the earliest Homo sapiens societies in Eurasia, the Aurignacian phase of the Early Upper Paleolithic, approximately 40 000–30 000 years ago, mammoth ivory assumed great social and economic significance, and was used to create hundreds of personal ornaments as well as the earliest known works of three‐dimensional figurative art in the world. This paper reports on the results of micro‐PIXE/PIGE analyses of mammoth‐ivory artifacts and debris from five major sites of Aurignacian ivory use. Patterns of variable fluorine content indicate regionally distinctive strategies of ivory procurement that correspond to apparent differences in human–mammoth interactions. Preserved trace elements (Br, Sr, Zn) indicate that differences at the regional level are applicable to sourcing Paleolithic ivory at the regional scale.