RADIOCARBON AND PROTEIN RESIDUE ANALYSIS OF BONE AND IVORY FROM CHINESE STATUARY

Summary

Single pieces of carved bone and ivory from Chinese statuary were submitted on May

14, 2007 for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating to establish the age of

the bone and ivory used (Table 1). The two samples analyzed include one piece of bone from a

statue and a decorative piece of ivory identified as part of the neck piece on a dog at the foot of

the statue. Upon receipt of the radiocarbon dates, we determined that it would be necessary to

understand which animals the bone and ivory were obtained from, so protein residue analysis

was undertaken to identify the animals. Testing confirmed that the samples were animal bone

and ivory.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• PaleoResearch Institute

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