A carved ivory cylinder from Akchakhan-kala, Uzbekistan: problems of dating and provenance
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Date
2016-02-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier B.V.
Abstract
Excavations at Akchakhan-kala in Uzbekistan, a region known in antiquity as Chorasmia, recovered a large, elaborately carved and heavily burned cylinder of some very solid material. Its poor condition made identification of the raw material difficult. Here we used neutron tomography to examine the internal structure in a non-destructive way, and X-ray Diffraction to determine the main chemical composition of the material which confirmed it as ivory. This was followed by preparation for stable isotope and radiocarbon analysis. The stable isotope analysis suggests a tropical or subtropical grassland source for the ivory, which is unlikely to be from Uzbekistan. The dating shows the ivory to be much earlier than the context in which it was found. Whatever its origin, the ivory travelled far to reach Chorasmia, perhaps in its raw state, and perhaps also for some time in its carved form. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
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Keywords
Uzbekistan, Tomography, Carbon 14, X-ray diffraction, Isotope dating, Raw materials
Citation
Betts, A., Dodson, J., Garbe, U., Bertuch, F., & Thorogood, G. (2016). A carved ivory cylinder from Akchakhan-kala, Uzbekistan: problems of dating and provenance. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 5, 190-196. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.10.034