Ivory ancient

Bone is nowadays regarded as far inferior to ivory. Ancient sites such as burial mounds often contain both bone and ivory. Excavation of these sites show that no particular distinction was made between the two materials, regarding either their uses or the craftsmanship involved in working them. It is likely that, in times past, equal value was given to both materials. 

Plenary 79. FI G M Edwards, e-mail address h.g.m.edwards bradford.ac.uk (NIR-FTRS). A review of recent applications of RS to archeology—characterizing ancient pigments, human skin, bone, ivories, teeth, resins, waxes and gums. Aging effects and dating possibilities. Emphasizes use of microscopic Raman. 

Baer, N. S. and N. Indictor (1974), Chemical investigations of ancient Near Eastern archaeology ivory artifacts, in Beck, C. W. (ed.), Archaeological Chemistry, Advances in Chemistry Series, Vol. 1, ACS, Washington, DC, pp. 241-251. 

Pliny mentions other black pigments used for various purposes—bitumen for painting statues and protecting copper vessels 40 burnt ivory (boneblack) and a black obtained by dyers a black inflorescence which adheres to the brazen dye-pans (copper oxide). The saepia also secretes a black liquid, but from this he says no color is prepared. That black oxide of manganese was used by the ancients as a pigment, we know from analyses already referred to, but no clearly recognizable reference to this substance has been identified in the ancient authors. 

Chemical Investigations of Ancient Near Eastern Archaeological Ivory Artifacts... 

A rtifacts and works of art have been carved from bone and ivory from prehistoric times. The importance of these objects to art historical scholarship is well documented. In recent years, many ivory artifacts have been recovered in excavations in the Ancient Near East from such... 

Related Materials. Table II gives the results of elemental analyses for bone, ivory, and related specimens. The mastadon, mammoth, and ancient walrus sample analyses indicated retained proteinaceous matter in composition equivalent to that for modern elephant ivory. This suggests that these materials would not provide a ready source of aged ivory for a modem carver seeking to duplicate the texture and composition of ivory buried for well over 2,000 years. 

Table III. Analyses and Color of Ancient Ivory Specimens from Acem Hiiyiik, Anatolia (19th- 18th Century B.C.)...

Table VIII. Comparison of Composite" Values for Analyses of Excavated Ancient Near Eastern Ivory Specimens with Specimens of Unknown Provenance...

Related Problems. The first question to be resolved in examining an Ancient Near Eastern ivory object of unknown provenance is its antiquity. Perhaps equally significant is the question of assignment to a specific archaeological site. This problem, as yet unexplored, may ultimately depend on the study of trace element distributions for its technical resolution. 

We thank Vaughn E. Crawford, Oscar White Muscarella, and Prudence Oliver Harper of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for samples of ancient ivory, permission to sample the Khorsabad ivories, and for stimulating discussions. 

Ancient Near Eastern Ivories in the British Museum, British Museum, London, 1957. 

Ancient Near Eastern Ivory Artifacts III. Fluorine and Nitrogen Composition, Adv. Chem. Ser. (1978) 171,139. 

Tn a recent study we examined samples taken from ivory artifacts exca-vated at Hasanlu, Acem Hiiyiik, and Nimrud. Elemental analyses were obtained for carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen (I). The results for specimens of known provenance were used to develop preliminary criteria for Ancient Near Eastern archaeological ivory artifacts of uncertain provenance. The useful results obtained in that work suggested an extension of similar observations to other excavation sites in the Ancient Near East (Megiddo and Khorsabad). The range of analyses was extended to include fluorine. 

Additional Methods of Analysis. Racemization studies (11,12,13) hold considerable promise for the dating of ancient bone samples. If the diflBculties of shorter time span compared with those already studied, limited sample universe, and nonuniform burial conditions can be overcome, the application of this procedure to Ancient Near Eastern ivory specimens would be useful. Also of interest is the possibility (19,20,21,... 

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