Ina Reiche
PSL, Institut de recherche de Chimie Paris (IRCP) UMR 8247 CNRS, Faculty Member
Archaeological bone materials have registered a wealth of information on climatic and environmental conditions, as well as on diets, in their chemical and isotopic composition. They represent, particularly for prehistoric periods, a key... more
Archaeological bone materials have registered a wealth of information on climatic and environmental conditions, as well as on diets, in their chemical and isotopic composition. They represent, particularly for prehistoric periods, a key source of information. However, such markers of the environment and the human behaviour can be modified during their burial time and anthropogenic transformations by heating for instance. Modern experimental and archaeological heated as well as unheated bone material (Bize-Tournal, France, 15000 BP; Abri Pataud, France, 22000-33000 BP; Song Terus, Indonésie, 5000-70000 BP) have been studied using a top-down analytical strategy from the macro- to the microscale (FTIR, FTIR -ATR, Raman, SEM, μPIXE-PIGE, μSAXS and isotopic analyses) in order to better assess the influence of such alteration processes on the informative potential of archaeological bone remains. The application of the established methodology provided a better understanding of archaeological data, particularly in the framework of geochronological information obtained by 14C dating of calcined bones (case of Abri Pataud, Dordogne). It is, therefore, expected that the new analytical protocols will allow to better select the samples in order to extract more reliable archaeological information while minimising the amount of necessary material.
Potentiel informatif des ossements chauffés en contexte archéologique : imagerie chimique, moléculaire et cristallographique à micro-échelle et analyses isotopiques (OsIRIs).
Potentiel informatif des ossements chauffés en contexte archéologique : imagerie chimique, moléculaire et cristallographique à micro-échelle et analyses isotopiques (OsIRIs).
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Historical paintings with important iconographical changes represent an analytical challenge. Considering the case study of a fifteenth-century French painting studied during its restoration, the efficiency of a combined noninvasive... more
Historical paintings with important iconographical changes represent an analytical challenge. Considering the case study of a fifteenth-century French painting studied during its restoration, the efficiency of a combined noninvasive approach of two-dimensional scanning macro-X-ray fluorescence imaging (MA-XRF) and a laboratory-based depth-resolved confocal micro-X-ray fluorescence (CXRF) is discussed. Large chemical maps of several elements were obtained by MA-XRF, enabling the identification of zones of interest representing changes in the painting composition. In these areas, depth profiles were measured with CXRF, allowing to evidence overlaying paint layers. The advantages of this technique are that it can give direct information on the stratigraphy of paint layers in a nondestructive way and can reduce the sampling needed, as well as increase the locations analyzed (in our study twenty-two depth-resolved scans). These results complement information obtained by scanning electron...
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International audienc
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Naturwissenschaftliche Informationen, insbesondere die chemische Zusammensetzung der Objekte, können Hinweise auf die Hintergründe der Objektherstellung liefern, die der alleinigen kunsthistorischen Begutachtung verborgen blieben. Es... more
Naturwissenschaftliche Informationen, insbesondere die chemische Zusammensetzung der Objekte, können Hinweise auf die Hintergründe der Objektherstellung liefern, die der alleinigen kunsthistorischen Begutachtung verborgen blieben. Es können nicht nur Fragen nach dem Prozess, Zeitpunkt und Ort der Herstellung beantwortet werden. Die chemische Analyse gibt auch Hinweise auf Ereignisse und Veränderungen, die erst nach der Fertigstellung des Objektes erfolgten. So werden Alterungsphänomene oder historische Überarbeitungen und Restaurierungen aufgedeckt, aber auch Konservierungsstrategien zur Erhaltung der Kunstwerke unterstützt. Durch den technologischen Fortschritt im Bereich der röntgenanalytischen Methoden, die berührungsfrei, ohne Probennahme und ohne Schädigung für das Untersuchungsobjekt arbeiten, erschließen sich dem Analytiker erstmalig Möglichkeiten, auch sehr wertvolle und fragile Objekte zerstörungsfrei zu untersuchen.
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While the absorption of X-rays and gamma radiation is determined by the Z-number of the elements a specimen is composed of, it is the hydrogen making an effective contrast with neutron imaging. As a consequence, interrogating with... more
While the absorption of X-rays and gamma radiation is determined by the Z-number of the elements a specimen is composed of, it is the hydrogen making an effective contrast with neutron imaging. As a consequence, interrogating with neutrons presents a suitable tool to study the distribution of organic consolidants in materials such as wood as encountered in impregnated wooden artworks. Four different examples of objects are presented here to demonstrate the potential of neutron CT: 1) small wooden pieces of ship wrecks (< 2 cm thickness) interrogated with cold neutrons (0.5 meV at the ANTARES facility of the FRM II in Garching) to demonstrate the potential and the limitation of using low energy neutrons, 2) a wooden statue soaked with carbolineum (fission neutrons 1.8 MeV at the NECTAR facility of the FRM II), 3) a smaller wooden figure of a skull heavily soaked with carbolineum so it was too tight for the fission neutrons used before with accelerator neutrons (broad range about 5...
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During the Iron Age, red corals (Corallium rubrum) were the most frequent imported object type from the Mediterranean area into the Celtic world. The density and the distinct patterns of their distribution are perfectly suited for the... more
During the Iron Age, red corals (Corallium rubrum) were the most frequent imported object type from the Mediterranean area into the Celtic world. The density and the distinct patterns of their distribution are perfectly suited for the study of intra-European cultural contacts and trade relations due to their long-term importation.Despite the 130-year-old history of research on prehistoric corals, there have been hardly any extensive study. One reason for this limited interest is that corals lose their intense red colour and shiny surface structure due to poorly understood ageing processes. Hence, other light-coloured materials such as bone, ivory, chalk or shells, which were also used to decorate jewellery, are often mistaken for corals.We propose a multi-stage approach to identify red corals and light bio-minerals with emphasis on digital microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The instruments are portable and can therefore be used directly in the museums, allowing a very efcient work ...
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Several written sources from the 19th and early 20th century indicate that, on the Melanesian archipelago of Santa Cruz, the heads of the war arrows were made of human bone. The aim of this study was to consider this behavior from the... more
Several written sources from the 19th and early 20th century indicate that, on the Melanesian archipelago of Santa Cruz, the heads of the war arrows were made of human bone. The aim of this study was to consider this behavior from the perspective of bone tool technology: confirm the choice of human bone as raw material and understand how it influenced the conception of the projectile and its point. A sample of 57 arrows collected on the Santa Cruz islands in the late 19th - early 20th century was thus studied in order to (1) establish the range of typological and technological variation in point design; (2) determine the nature of the raw materials used; (3) discuss the relationship between the two. The typological study shows that the arrowheads can be divided into two main categories, "large points" (10% of the sample) and "small points" (88% of the sample), and that the latter are designed as imitations of the former. Material analyses performed on four points...
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Mammutelfenbein hatte in den frühesten Gesellschaften des Homo sapiens in Eurasien (=Aurignacien‐Phase des frühen Jungpaläolithikums, 40 000–30 000 uncal. BP) eine große soziale und wirtschaftliche Bedeutung. Elfenbein war in dieser Zeit... more
Mammutelfenbein hatte in den frühesten Gesellschaften des Homo sapiens in Eurasien (=Aurignacien‐Phase des frühen Jungpaläolithikums, 40 000–30 000 uncal. BP) eine große soziale und wirtschaftliche Bedeutung. Elfenbein war in dieser Zeit ein begehrter Rohstoff bei der Herstellung von Schmuckobjekten sowie der ältesten plastischen figurativen Kunst. Diese Zuschrift diskutiert die Ergebnisse von Mikro‐PIXE/PIGE‐Analysen an Artefakten aus Mammutelfenbein sowie an deren Fragmenten von fünf bedeutenden Aurignacien‐Fundstellen, für die eine Nutzung von Elfenbein belegt ist. Spezifische Muster variabler Fluor‐Gehalte weisen auf regional unterschiedliche Strategien zur Beschaffung von Elfenbein hin und lassen Unterschiede in den Wechselbeziehungen zwischen Mensch und Mammut erkennen. Biogene Spurenelementgehalte (Br, Sr, Zn), die in den Fundstücken konserviert sind, erlauben Rückschlüsse auf die Herkunft des genutzten Elfenbeins.
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Among the earliest Homo sapiens societies in Eurasia, the Aurignacian phase of the Early Upper Palaeolithic, approximately 40,000-30,000 uncal. BP, mammoth ivory assumed great social and economic significance, and was used to create... more
Among the earliest Homo sapiens societies in Eurasia, the Aurignacian phase of the Early Upper Palaeolithic, approximately 40,000-30,000 uncal. BP, 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 artefacts and debris from five major sites of Aurignacian ivory use. Patterns of variable F-content indicate regionally-distinct 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 Palaeolithic ivory at the regional scale.
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Nanoscale studies of bone provide key indicators to evidence subtle structural changes that may occur in the biomedical, forensic and archaeological contexts. One specific problem encountered in all those disciplines, for which the... more
Nanoscale studies of bone provide key indicators to evidence subtle structural changes that may occur in the biomedical, forensic and archaeological contexts. One specific problem encountered in all those disciplines, for which the identification of nanostructural cues could prove useful, is to properly monitor the effect of heating on bone tissue. In particular, the mechanisms at work at the onset of heating are still relatively unclear. Using a multiscale approach combining Raman microspectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), synchrotron quantitative scanning small-angle X-ray scattering imaging (qsSAXSI) and polarized light (PL) microscopy, we investigate the ultrastructure of cortical bovine bone heated at temperatures < 300°C, from the molecular to the macroscopic scale. We show that, despite limited changes in crystal structure, the mineral nanoparticles increase in thickness and become strongly disorganized upon heating. Furthermore, while the nanostructure in ...
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Research Interests: Evolutionary Biology, Archaeology, Geology, Archaeological Science, Palaeolithic Archaeology, and 13 moreEcology, Provenance, Paleolithic Europe, Aurignacian, Upper Paleolithic, Bone Technology (Archaeology), Mammoth Ivory, Paleolithic Archaeology, Mammoth, Bone diagenesis and taphonomy, Upper Palaeolithic, Archéologie, and Elsevier
Loïc Bertrand, Philippe Dillmann and Ina Reiche introduce the Synchrotron radiation and neutrons in art and archaeology 2014 themed issue, and give an overview of the conference held in the Louvre Museum, Paris.
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This paper presents the first results of the application of fibre optic visible reflectance spectroscopy to a group of fourteen underglaze polychrome painted tiles from nineteenth century Iran. The measurement of the entire range of... more
This paper presents the first results of the application of fibre optic visible reflectance spectroscopy to a group of fourteen underglaze polychrome painted tiles from nineteenth century Iran. The measurement of the entire range of colours appearing on the tiles is aimed at investigating the practices of the Persian master potter Ali Muhammad Isfahani (AMI), who was active in his workshop in Tehran between 1884 and 1893, according to his signed works. In an earlier study, an analytical approach for the non destructive investigation of underglaze painted ceramics was developed, combining microanalytical X-ray methods for the determination of the chemical composition of the glaze (micro X-ray fluorescence, XRF or micro proton induced X-ray and gamma-ray emission, microPIXE/PIGE) with microRaman and visible reflectance spectroscopy, intended to identify more particularly the types of colorants and pigments used (Reiche et al. 2009).
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Scanning x‐ray fluorescence (MA‐XRF), Reflectance Imaging Spectroscopy (RIS) and Luminescence Imaging Spectroscopy (LIS) are scientific methods extensively used in the investigation of artworks in Cultural Heritage Science. Nevertheless,... more
Scanning x‐ray fluorescence (MA‐XRF), Reflectance Imaging Spectroscopy (RIS) and Luminescence Imaging Spectroscopy (LIS) are scientific methods extensively used in the investigation of artworks in Cultural Heritage Science. Nevertheless, these three highly complementary imaging methods have never been implemented in a single instrument. In this paper, we present a scanning system that is the first to simultaneously combine MA‐XRF, RIS, and LIS techniques, generating spatially aligned hyperspectral datasets. The specifications of the instrument and of the collected datacubes are described, together with the processing pipeline developed for the coupled exploitation and interpretation. The operation of this instrument, combining XRF with RIS and LIS mapping in an extended range (400–2500 nm and 200–1000 nm, respectively), is exemplified on an anonymous test painting, studied previously. A focus on a restored area of this painting allows to illustrates the complementarity of the three ...
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A selection of Late Bronze Age glass objects from the site of Amarna (Egypt) was analysed for their overall chemical composition, colourants and transition metals associated with the sources of cobalt ore. The objects were analysed by... more
A selection of Late Bronze Age glass objects from the site of Amarna (Egypt) was analysed for their overall chemical composition, colourants and transition metals associated with the sources of cobalt ore. The objects were analysed by means of Particle Induced X-Ray and Gamma-ray Emission and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry at the IBC, HZDR, Dresden and the New AGLAE facility, C2RMF, Paris. The data was subsequently compared with further measurements obtained by portable X-Ray Fluorescence (and by Laser-Ablation Inductively-Coupled-Plasma Mass-Spectrometry) in order to sound the potential of these non-destructive methods to obtain new insights into the production process of glass from Amarna and its provenancing.
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tural heritage objects. Scientific analysis, especially the chemical composition, of artistic and cultural heritage objects reveals information, which cannot be gained from art historical investigations alone. The improvement of X-ray... more
tural heritage objects. Scientific analysis, especially the chemical composition, of artistic and cultural heritage objects reveals information, which cannot be gained from art historical investigations alone. The improvement of X-ray analytical method, like X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis and Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) analysis, makes it possible to investigate even fragile and very precious objects non-destructively. In principle, two strategies are generally embarked: First, very sophisticated set-ups using particle accelerators or synchrotron-radiation sources for very sensitive or highly spatially-resolved and depth-sensitive analysis. Second, portable instrumentation for in-situ measurements at archaeological excavations, museums and collections. Highlights of investigated objects are limoges school enamels, manuscripts of Goethe and Schiller, the sceptre of Charlemagne, medieval metal objects, silverpoint drawings from the Renaissance, and Indian Mughal paintings.
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Rares sont les materiaux graphiques a avoir fait l'objet d'investigations scientifiques. Cette lacune est a present partiellement comblee grâce aux recherches recemment menees a Paris et Berlin sur un ensemble de dessins de la... more
Rares sont les materiaux graphiques a avoir fait l'objet d'investigations scientifiques. Cette lacune est a present partiellement comblee grâce aux recherches recemment menees a Paris et Berlin sur un ensemble de dessins de la Renaissance realises a la pointe de metal ; pointe de plomb et pointe d'argent furent des materiaux tres prises des artistes de l'epoque, de Durer a Vinci, de Van Eyck a Pisanello. Ces analyses scientifiques permettent non seulement de mieux apprehender la technique elle-meme, de la preparation du support au trace, mais aussi de suggerer de nouvelles attributions.
Research Interests: Humanities and Art
This paper presents the analytical results obtained on the study of a green pigment, part of 23 samples of raw materials from the late 19th century Persian workshop of the master potter Ali Muhammad Isfahani, today in the collection of... more
This paper presents the analytical results obtained on the study of a green pigment, part of 23 samples of raw materials from the late 19th century Persian workshop of the master potter Ali Muhammad Isfahani, today in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. In collaboration with institutions in the United Kingdom and France the samples were investigated using non-invasive and non-destructive analytical techniques to characterise their quantitative elementary composition and the structure of crystalline and amorphous phases present. The composition of the green sample was compared with a treatise by the master potter, which illustrates his description of the working process and with results obtained from one of his finished tiles, now in the collection of the National Museums Scotland. It is hoped that the analytical investigation of the raw material together with the finished object will help our art historical understanding of the workshop.
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... After successful measurements on artificial test samples, four original silverpoint drawings were investigated: two portraits from Albrecht Dürer&amp;amp;amp;#x27;s very early period (self-portrait and portrait of his father) and... more
... After successful measurements on artificial test samples, four original silverpoint drawings were investigated: two portraits from Albrecht Dürer&amp;amp;amp;#x27;s very early period (self-portrait and portrait of his father) and two drawings from Dürer&amp;amp;amp;#x27;s sketch book of his travel to the Netherlands ...
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Research Interests: Archaeology, Biology, Ecology, Coastal and Island Archaeology, Cyprus, and 15 moreMedicine, Multidisciplinary, Mammal Extinctions, Artiodactyla, Human, Biological Sciences, Megafauna, Humans, Hippopotamus, Animals, Bone diagenesis and taphonomy, Biological evolution, PLoS one, Accumulation, and Bone and Bones
In the 1960s two similar silver corncobs attributed to the Chimú-Inca period were sold by New York based art dealers to the Museum für Völkerkunde in Berlin, now the Ethnologisches Museum, and to the Denver Art Museum. The composition of... more
In the 1960s two similar silver corncobs attributed to the Chimú-Inca period were sold by New York based art dealers to the Museum für Völkerkunde in Berlin, now the Ethnologisches Museum, and to the Denver Art Museum. The composition of the Berlin piece shows the use of different alloys, suggesting the reuse of different pre-Columbian objects. Only the hard-solders used to join the different parts of the corncobs contain an amount of zinc that might indicate a modern intervention. The hypothesis of this article is that economic stability in the 1960s combined with the desire to restore Second World War losses in museums collections particularly in Germany paved the way for doubtable purchases including forgeries. Keywords: metallurgy, silver, miniature, forgery, Robert Stolper, Ethnologisches Museum Berlin
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Measuring in a non-destructive way the characteristic trace elements of the metal allows following the circulation of gold in the past. The aim of this work is to probe the possibilities of X-ray fluorescence with high energy synchrotron... more
Measuring in a non-destructive way the characteristic trace elements of the metal allows following the circulation of gold in the past. The aim of this work is to probe the possibilities of X-ray fluorescence with high energy synchrotron radiation (SR-XRF) at the BAMline at BESSY II to determine the concentration of Pt in ancient gold alloys. A HP-Ge detector was used to measure the Pt K-lines excited with an incident energy of 79.5 keV. Data processing was done by subtraction of a Pt free gold standard spectrum from the spectrum of the sample. Depending on the sample composition, the MDL ranges between 40 and 90 ppm. The first results obtained for a small set of gold alloys of different thickness, size and composition showed that high energy SR-XRF is a significant method for the non-destructive determination of Pt in gold.
Keywords: Mammoth ivory Upper and Middle Palaeolithic Minor and trace element analysis Micro-Proton Induced X-ray Emission and Micro-Proton Induced Gamma Ray Emission Diagenesis Micro-Proton Induced X-ray and Gamma-ray Emission... more
Keywords: Mammoth ivory Upper and Middle Palaeolithic Minor and trace element analysis Micro-Proton Induced X-ray Emission and Micro-Proton Induced Gamma Ray Emission Diagenesis 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 30,000 y BP. 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 prove-nance. 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.
Research Interests: Palaeolithic Archaeology, Paleolithic Europe, Aurignacian, Upper Paleolithic, Mammoth Ivory, and 4 morePaleolithic Archaeology, Mammoth, Upper Palaeolithic, and Palaeolithic Europe, Palaeolithic archaeology, Mesolithic archaeology, Prehistoric transitions, Environmental archaeology, Archaeozoology, Pleistocene fauna, Palaeoclimate, Refugia and recolonisation, Spatial analysis, Palaeolithic art and symbolism
This article presents the results of two series of micro-PIXE/PIGE analysis on mammoth ivory samples from four Aurignacian sites in France (Abri Castanet, Grotte d'Isturitz) and Germany (Hohle Fels, Vogelherd). Specifically, we report... more
This article presents the results of two series of micro-PIXE/PIGE analysis on mammoth ivory samples from four Aurignacian sites in France (Abri Castanet, Grotte d'Isturitz) and Germany (Hohle Fels, Vogelherd). Specifically, we report variation in ivory preservation as indicated by fluorine (F) content and
ratios of MgO/CaO from Aurignacian horizons known to contain ivory industries. Though all samples derive from respectively homogenous sedimentary contexts, results show very different pattern of Fcontent variation among sites. F uptake in ivory is a more complex process than that observed for bone,
and the structural/morphological reasons for this are explained. High-resolution data on the archaeological context of the samples from Abri Castanet also allows for examination of the effects of horizontal and vertical distribution on F-content and the sorting of F-content data by sedimentary unit. A definitive model for fluorine uptake during ivory diagenesis will require further investigation, but a close examination of the current data provides novel insight into processes of taphonomy and diagenesis in this exceptional and highly valued raw material, as well as further evidence to support regionally distinct strategies of ivory procurement in the Early Aurignacian. In combination with additional lines of faunal
and archaeological evidence, it is demonstrated that ivory procurement in the Swabian Jura focused on fresh local sources of ivory, while procurement strategies in Northern Aquitaine focused on ivory collection from natural deposits of varying age.
ratios of MgO/CaO from Aurignacian horizons known to contain ivory industries. Though all samples derive from respectively homogenous sedimentary contexts, results show very different pattern of Fcontent variation among sites. F uptake in ivory is a more complex process than that observed for bone,
and the structural/morphological reasons for this are explained. High-resolution data on the archaeological context of the samples from Abri Castanet also allows for examination of the effects of horizontal and vertical distribution on F-content and the sorting of F-content data by sedimentary unit. A definitive model for fluorine uptake during ivory diagenesis will require further investigation, but a close examination of the current data provides novel insight into processes of taphonomy and diagenesis in this exceptional and highly valued raw material, as well as further evidence to support regionally distinct strategies of ivory procurement in the Early Aurignacian. In combination with additional lines of faunal
and archaeological evidence, it is demonstrated that ivory procurement in the Swabian Jura focused on fresh local sources of ivory, while procurement strategies in Northern Aquitaine focused on ivory collection from natural deposits of varying age.
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ABSTRACT This paper presents a synthesis of the state of the knowledge concerning diffusion in archaeological bone. Bone remains are often the unique witnesses of ancient societies and so an irreplaceable source of information about ages,... more
ABSTRACT This paper presents a synthesis of the state of the knowledge concerning diffusion in archaeological bone. Bone remains are often the unique witnesses of ancient societies and so an irreplaceable source of information about ages, populations, ancient diets and palaeoclimates. As their degree of conservation is highly variable and dependent on the environment, the alteration processes, especially the modifications due to transport of chemical species, should be known in order to get reliable information on the past. Analysis of the literature and experimental results allows to describe the main features of the diagenetic evolution and to determine the important parameters for an adequate diffusion model We show that a more precise interpretation of the uptake of chemical species in archaeological bone will be possible when the complex organic and mineral microstructure of bone will be understood and if more diffusion coefficients of different chemical species in bone are determined.
Several written sources from the 19th and early 20th century indicate that, on the Melanesian archipelago of Santa Cruz, the heads of the war arrows were made of human bone. The aim of this study was to consider this behavior from the... more
Several written sources from the 19th and early 20th century indicate that, on the Melanesian archipelago of Santa Cruz, the heads of the war arrows were made of human bone. The aim of this study was to consider this behavior from the perspective of bone tool technology: confirm the choice of human bone as raw material and understand how it influenced the conception of the projectile and its point. A sample of 57 arrows collected on the Santa Cruz islands in the late 19th - early 20th century was thus studied in order to (1) establish the range of typological and technological variation in point design; (2) determine the nature of the raw materials used; (3) discuss the relationship between the two. The typological study shows that the arrowheads can be divided into two main categories, "large points" (10% of the sample) and "small points" (88% of the sample), and that the latter are designed as imitations of the former. Material analyses performed on four points show that the large points are made of bone, the species of which could not be determined; however the small points, which make up the large majority of the sample, are not made of bone but probably of keratinous material. This apparent discordance between the written record and the analysis of the artifacts may be due the heterogeneous and patchy nature of our sources, or to the existence, in the culture of the Santa Cruz islanders, of a gap between the ideology and the actual technical practice.
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During the Central European Iron Age, and more specifically between 600 and 100 BC, red precious corals (Corallium rubrum) became very popular in many regions, often associated with the so-called (early) Celts. Red corals are ideally... more
During the Central European Iron Age, and more specifically between 600 and 100 BC, red precious corals (Corallium rubrum) became very popular in many regions, often associated with the so-called (early) Celts. Red corals are ideally suited to investigate several key questions of Iron Age research like trade patterns, or social and economic structures. While it is fairly easy to distinguish modern C. rubrum from bone, ivory, or shells, archaeologists are confronted with ancient, hence altered, artifacts. Due to ageing processes, archaeological corals lose their intensive red color and shiny surface, and can easily be confused with these other light-colored materials. We propose a non-destructive multi-stage approach with emphasis on optical examination and mobile Raman spectroscopy to identify archaeological corals amongst other biominerals.