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.

• Publication year

  2011

• Venue

  Unknown venue

• Publication date

  2011-04-30

• Fields of study

  Materials Science, Engineering, History

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.4000/ARCHEOSCIENCES.3297
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• Synchrotron and laboratory microCT identified ivory for the analyzed beads except for one bead with slightly different morphological features.

  Confidence 0.97

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAK (4715169a40) review
• microPIXE did not resolve the raw material of the beads definitively.

  Confidence 0.93

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAK (4715169a40) review
• The level 2 assemblage from Abri Pataud includes 85 standardized rectangular beads as its main body-ornament component.

  Confidence 0.96

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAK (4715169a40) review

• abri pataud

  archaeological site

  The Dordogne rock shelter site where the Final Gravettian bead assemblage was recovered.

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAK (4715169a40) review
• final gravettian level 2

  archaeological layer

  The archaeological layer at Abri Pataud that yielded the bead assemblage discussed in the abstract.

  Aliases: level 2, Final Gravettian level

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAK (4715169a40) review
• mammoth ivory

  material

  Ivory from mammoth used as a candidate raw material for the beads.

  Aliases: ivory

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAK (4715169a40) review
• microct

  imaging method

  Synchrotron and laboratory X-ray microtomography used here to inspect bead internal morphology without damaging the objects.

  Aliases: microtomography, X-ray microtomography

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAK (4715169a40) review
• micropixe

  analytical method

  A microbeam proton-induced X-ray emission technique used here to analyze bead composition non-invasively.

  Aliases: microbeam Proton Induced X-ray Emission analysis

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAK (4715169a40) review
• raw material identification

  analytical objective

  The determination of what material was used to make the beads.

  Aliases: material identification

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAK (4715169a40) review
• rectangular beads

  artifact

  Small standardized rectangular ornamental objects recovered from the site assemblage.

  Aliases: beads

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewKiller Whale (322360f1c1) reviewB (s683577b42) reviewAK (4715169a40) review

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