First in situ pXRF analyses of rock paintings in Erongo, Namibia: results, current limits, and prospects

Mauran, Guilhem; Lebon, Matthieu; Détroit, Florent; Caron, B.; Nankela, Alma; Pleurdeau, David; Bahain, Jean‐Jacques

doi:10.1007/s12520-019-00787-7

Cited by 25 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 65 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…BP have been reported and thus were considered to be the oldest evidence of caprine herding. Extensive fieldwork has been ongoing at the site, mainly focused on the lower levels and rock art pigments 47 . In addition to the two dental remains previously described 15 , the excavations have yielded one mandible from the same layer and 25 remains from a layer higher up in the cave’s stratigraphic sequence (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The map was generated by Louise Le Meillour and David Pleurdeau using Google Maps (https ://www.googl e.fr/maps) for country and river edges and created using Adobe Illustrator CC 2017 (https ://www.adobe .com/). site, mainly focused on the lower levels and rock art pigments 47 . In addition to the two dental remains previously described 15 , the excavations have yielded one mandible from the same layer and 25 remains from a layer higher up in the cave's stratigraphic sequence ( Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Palaeoproteomics gives new insight into early southern African pastoralism

Meillour

Zirah

Zazzo

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The advent of domestication is a major step that transformed the subsistence strategies of past human societies. In Africa, domestic caprines (sheep and goat) were introduced in the northeastern part of the continent from the Near East more than 9000 years ago. However, their diffusion southwards was slow. They are thought to have made their first appearance in the southern part of the continent ca. 2000 years ago, at a few Later Stone Age sites, including Leopard Cave (Erongo region, Namibia), which provided the oldest directly dated remains assigned to sheep or goat on the basis of morphology of bones and teeth. However, similarities in morphology, not only between these two domesticated caprine species, but also between them and the small wild antelopes, raised questions about the morphological species attribution of these remains. Additionally, the high fragmentation of the site's osteological remains makes it difficult to achieve species-level taxonomic identification by comparative anatomy. In this paper, we report molecular species identification of the Leopard Cave remains using palaeoproteomics, a method that uses protein markers in bone and tooth collagen to achieve taxonomic identification of archaeological remains. We also report new direct radiocarbon dates. Wild antelope remains from museum collections were used to enrich the available protein record and propose de novo type I collagen sequences. Our results demonstrate that the remains morphologically described as domesticates actually belong to a wild antelope species and that domestic caprines first appeared at Leopard Cave 1500 years later than previously thought. This study illustrates that the use of palaeoproteomics coupled with direct radiocarbon dates is particularly suited to complement classic zooarchaeological studies, in this case concerning the arrival of the first herding practices in arid environments. Understanding how past human populations interacted with their environment, and particularly with other animals, allows understanding large parts of societies, their organisation and their economy. Climatic change is one of the factors that may have pressured human populations to adapt their subsistence strategy and diet. With Saharan and Sahelian aridification starting at the end of the African Humid Period (ca. 14,800-5500 years before present [BP] 1), Africa experienced its last major climatic change 2 and humans had to adapt to new environments 3. Thus, the inception of domestication may have been constrained by fewer food resources and their increased unpredictability 4. Given that they have no wild representatives on the continent, it is now commonly accepted that domestic sheep (Ovis aries) and goat (Capra hircus) were introduced from the Near East 5,6. The first archaeozoological evidence of these species dates from the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 8th millennium BP, in the eastern part of the Sahara 7-13. Yet, their diffusion across the continent was slow: the first

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Palaeoproteomics gives new insight into early southern African pastoralism

Meillour

Zirah

Zazzo

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As a matter of fact, a painting is the result of the application of different pigmentary mixtures with determined proportions of diverse materials onto the rock surface. These mixtures have been usually described in the literature as the combination of a pigment (grounded solid colored materials or organic colorants), a binder (commonly an organic material) and additives (regularly used as extenders, fillers or charges) [12,17,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. The pigments, also knew as chromophores, are the responsible to give color to the painting.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Looking for Painting Mixtures to Glimpse Pictorial Techniques: A Micro-Stratigraphic Physicochemical Approach to the Rock Art From the Oyola’s Caves (Argentina)

Gheco

Tascón

Eugenia

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Could not be possible that rock paintings with similar hues and morphologies were the results of different painting events inside a cave but distanced in time? Is there any archaeometric approach that allows us to evidence these subtle differences? Aiming to address these inquires, in this work are presented the potentials of new physicochemical lines of evidence for characterization and differentiation of painting mixtures. This will improve the understanding of the technical heterogeneity and temporal complexity of painting sets executed in a particular archaeological site. In order to explore these points, the results obtained in the micro-stratigraphic studies of samples taken from the painted walls of Oyola, an archaeological site situated in the northwest of Argentina, are presented. These samples have been analyzed by micro-Raman spectroscopy (mRS) and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDS). The differences found by cross-section chemical studies could be explained as a consequence of two situations: 1- differences in the painting’s chemical components, either in the pigments involved or additives used; and, 2- differences in the physical properties of the mixtures such as stratum thickness and/or particle size. Also, in this article is explained each of the hypothesis, presenting the limits of these interpretations and pointing out future research challenges. As we discussed, it could be possible that the chemical and physical differences found between painting mixtures were the material expression of varied types of pictorial techniques.

show abstract

“…As a matter of fact, a painting is the result of the application of different paint mixtures with determined proportions of diverse materials onto the rock surface using specific tool/s and technique/s. These mixtures have been usually described in the literature as the combination of a pigment (grounded solid colored materials or organic colorants), a binder (commonly an organic material) and additives (regularly used as extenders, fillers or charges) [7,12,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. The pigments, also known as chromophores, are the responsible to give color to the painting.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Looking for paint mixtures to glimpse pictorial techniques: a micro-stratigraphic physicochemical approach to the rock art from the Oyola’s Caves (Argentina)

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Could not be possible that rock paintings with similar hues and morphologies were the result of different paint preparations inside a cave but distanced in time? Is there any archaeometric approach that allow us to evidence these subtle differences? Aiming to address these inquires, in this work are presented the potentials of new physicochemical lines of evidence for characterization and differentiation of paint mixtures. This will improve the understanding of the technical heterogeneity and temporal complexity of painting sets executed in a particular archaeological site. In order to explore these points, the results obtained in the micro-stratigraphic studies of samples taken from the painted walls of Oyola, an archaeological site located in the northwest of Argentina, are presented. These samples have been analyzed by micro-Raman spectroscopy (mRS) and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDS). The differences found by cross-section chemical studies could be explained as a consequence of two situations: 1-differences in the painting's chemical components, either in the pigments involved or additives used; and, 2-differences in the physical properties of the mixtures such as stratum thickness and/or particle size. Also, in this article are explained each of the hypothesis, presenting the limits of these interpretations and pointing out future research challenges. As we discussed, it could be possible that the chemical and physical differences found between paint mixtures were the material expression of varied types of pictorial techniques.

show abstract

First in situ pXRF analyses of rock paintings in Erongo, Namibia: results, current limits, and prospects

Cited by 25 publications

References 65 publications

Palaeoproteomics gives new insight into early southern African pastoralism

Palaeoproteomics gives new insight into early southern African pastoralism

Looking for Painting Mixtures to Glimpse Pictorial Techniques: A Micro-Stratigraphic Physicochemical Approach to the Rock Art From the Oyola’s Caves (Argentina)

Looking for paint mixtures to glimpse pictorial techniques: a micro-stratigraphic physicochemical approach to the rock art from the Oyola’s Caves (Argentina)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About