Analysis of the state of preservation and determination of raw material of Gravettian mammoth ivory personal ornaments (Dolní Věstonice, Czech Republic) using Micro Computed Tomography

Summary

This poster examines the utilization of non-destructive and non-invasive microCT analysis to identify raw materials used to fabricate Gravettian artifacts, assess their current state of conservation and work out a procedure for treatment of artifacts in a problematic state of preservation.

Raw materials and manufacturing technology of Gravettian personal ornaments from Dolní Věstonice (Czech republic) made from hard animal tissues, such as mammoth ivory, can only be identified using the microCT analysis non-destructive analyses because these objects represent rare and unique cultural relics protected by the state. The preserved mammoth ivory objects from this period, both mammoth tusks as the primary raw material for products and the products themselves, are often found in a very problematic state of conservation. The current final form of artifacts, which differs from the original one due to modifications performed, has stereotypically been borrowed by authors of individual publications. The objects discovered thus live their second life. In order to analyze how they were manufactured, what was their purpose and how they were possibly used in past societies it is necessary to reconstruct the original form of the artifacts.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage