Tracing the Source of the Elephant And Hippopotamus Ivory from ...

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summarized in Chapter Nine is not useful for comparison, as the δ 13 C values have too wide a spread for Amboseli National Park, Kenya (Koch et al. 1995, see Figure 39), and Tieszen and Imbamba (1980) were analyzing feces of the hippos and elephants, not collagen or apatite. In Figure 73 the elephant sample does group near to the Maraş Fili samples as well, but the Maraş Fili samples are some of the most positive δ 13 C encountered in any isotopic study of elephants. Either the Uluburun’s elephant ivory came from a region where elephants had an extremely heavy reliance on C4 grasses, such as very arid grasslands, or there is a problem of preservation. Calcite carbonates from the ocean water may be incorporated with time or semi-fossilization may occur, and the presence of this contaminating carbon may be detected by using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The oxygen isotope values from the Uluburun and Maraş Fili samples fit well with the δ 18 O values of the eastern Mediterranean, as depicted in Figure 53 (Schilman et al. 2001: 168). The ocean water of the southeast Mediterranean has δ 18 O ranging from +1.4 to 2‰, the Nile is +2‰, the monsoonal rainfall from the Ethiopian highlands ranges from 0 to –2.9‰, and Mediterranean rainfall averages at -5.6‰. The extent of diagenetic effects on stable oxygen isotope ratios and the multitude of factors controlling δ 18 O values in animal bone are still poorly understood, so I hesitate to draw conclusions on the oxygen isotope data. Nevertheless, the δ 18 O values do fit well with the eastern Mediterranean, and diagenesis from the ocean water would have acted to pull the Uluburun hippopotamus δ 18 O values further towards the negative or zero, as most of these values are greater than +2‰. Also, I suspect hippopotami will pick up the oxygen isotope signature of the water source which they inhabit during the day, so that the Nile valley as a potential source of most of the hippopotamus tusks would not be so far- 171
fetched (with the Nile ≈ +2‰). The Maraş Fili samples overall have more negative δ 18 O values, which also accords well with an environment (whether the elephant’s or the burial conditions) more influenced by Mediterranean rainfall. Overall, though, the carbon and oxygen isotope data are essentially inconclusive, especially since it is uncertain how affected the samples were by diagenesis. Apatite tends to be less susceptible to preservation issues than collagen, in that it may still be retrievable in the laboratory, which is why this investigation has utilized apatite for isotopic analysis. As the processing of the collagen samples clearly verified, retrieval of the collagen component of the ivory and bone proved much more difficult. Three samples (KW 3842, MTA 2711, and MTA X) were lost during processing, as there were no more viable collagen remaining in these samples, and two of the samples (KW 1182 and KW 1192) produced so little collagen that the nitrogen (in the form of N2 gas) was not detectable. Another standard indicator of deterioration of the original isotopic signal is the ratio of %C to %N, and acceptable values range from 2.9 to 3.7. From the two samples (KW 744 and MTA 2142) which retained detectable nitrogen, only MTA 2142 has an acceptable C/N value at 3.4 (see Table 12). Only samples which show this sort of preservation should be considered as an accurate description of the original isotopic ratios, so MTA 2142 is the only collagen sample suitable for interpretation, and this thesis is not attempting to source MTA 2142 as its provenance is already known. The δ 13 C value of the collagen was -19.1‰, while the carbon from the apatite for the same sample was -7.3‰. This is a difference of greater than 7 per mil, suggesting the apatite was contaminated by carbonates in the groundwater of the depositional environment. Collagen is not subject to such contamination. The nitrogen isotope ratio of +10.2‰ is 172
Page 1 and 2:
Tracing the Source of the Elephant
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Table of Contents List of Tables iv
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Mechanisms of Late Bronze Age trade
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List of Figures Figure 1. Morpholog
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Figure 35. Average δ 13 C values o
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Figure 69. KW 2557 (Hippopotamus tu
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“merchants” to a larger degree
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skeletal part to verify the presenc
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possibility of sophisticated scient
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B.C. and resumed Egyptian campaigni
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urbanization at centers such as Enk
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incisors”) of the elephant. Each
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Dentine in elephant tusks is essent
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perpendicular to the tubules....[co
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Figure 3 : The incisors and canines
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for the elephant, is where the dent
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Chapter 3 The Archaeological, Histo
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pastoralism. Today most of the hipp
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emains in the Syro-Palestinian regi
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near Beersheba. An EB I lower right
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Figure 13: The distribution of Midd
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Figure 14: 18 th Dynasty Egyptian t
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Chapter 4 The Archaeological, Histo
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Figure 16: Present distribution of
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Maghreb was inaccessible or nonexis
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flooding and dense human population
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BCE), mentions imports of approxima
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The degree of contact between the L
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Minoan and Mycenaean sherds from th
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are lacking in North Africa, but th
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Part II: The Syrian Elephant Turnin
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Figure 22: Location of Ghab Valley
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elephants show a lower preference f
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similar to those of the African ele
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Chapter 5 Ivory Workshops in the La
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of the waste pieces may be reused f
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ivory and silver (Odyssey XIX.55) a
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century B.C. (LH I-LH IIIB), but th
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ivory from a burnt deposit in Thebe
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Tell Fakhariyah has only yielded ex
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Figure 28: Comparison of utilizatio
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Much of the discussion about Palest
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(Lilyquist 1998: 27; Gachet 1993: 7
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argues that for both of the types
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The End of Ivory-working in the LBA
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study residence and mobility. Katze
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feeding on the plant (Sukumar and R
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4‰ lower than those of marine pla
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Studies which have focused on evalu
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sediments in one area had isotopic
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local environment, and thus answer
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Figure 32: Sr concentrations plotte
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Figure 34: 87 Sr/ 86 Sr vs. age of
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Chapter 7 Ecological and Dietary Re
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wide, straight lips of the hippo en
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unlikely that many were actually ea
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proportion of C3 to C4 vegetation i
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diet as interpreted from the stable
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had larger ranges than those elepha
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Tchamba and Seme (1993) likewise re
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fact adapted to the desert, and thi
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Table 2: δ 13 C values and % C4 fr
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Figure 35: Average δ 13 C values o
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Table 4: Percentage of C3 plants in
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Table 5: Isotope values for Ambosel
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Figure 39: “Carbon and nitrogen i
Page 133 and 134: Table 6 (continued) 120
Page 135 and 136: Figure 41: δ 13 C versus δ 15 N f
Page 137 and 138: Figure 43: δ 13 C versus δ 15 N f
Page 139 and 140: Figure 44: δ 13 C versus 87 Sr/ 86
Page 141 and 142: In conclusion, isotopic analysis ha
Page 143 and 144: (Ugarit/Ras Shamra). Only two studi
Page 145 and 146: fault and is filled with flood-basa
Page 147 and 148: Figure 49: Geologic and fault map o
Page 149 and 150: The Negev Desert in Southern Israel
Page 151 and 152: The Eastern Mediterranean and the N
Page 153 and 154: and water and sediment from the Nil
Page 155 and 156: Figure 55: Contour diagrams for the
Page 157 and 158: Figure 56: The Sr isotope ratios in
Page 159 and 160: Figure 58: Schematic diagram along
Page 161 and 162: strontium data from Betton and Cive
Page 163 and 164: These flood basalts have 87 Sr/ 86
Page 165 and 166: Figure 63: Map of the Libyan Desert
Page 167 and 168: Table 7: Isotopic data of high-grad
Page 169 and 170: Chapter 11 Analytical Procedures, S
Page 171 and 172: Table 9: Collagen samples for analy
Page 173 and 174: USF # Museum Catalog # Table 10: Ap
Page 175 and 176: Figure 66: KW 1182 (Hippopotamus tu
Page 177 and 178: Figure 70: KW 3842 (Elephant ivory)
Page 179 and 180: Chapter 12 Results and Discussion R
Page 181 and 182: d18O (apatite, per mil) 3 2 1 0 -1
Page 183: and hippopotami are grazers. To com
Page 187 and 188: opposed to the 2-3 mg required for
Page 189 and 190: international environment. The LBA
Page 191 and 192: ecause they were subject to taxatio
Page 193 and 194: were other ruling elites (Ratnagar
Page 195 and 196: scientific archaeometric angle and
Page 197 and 198: Chapter 13 Conclusion and Suggestio
Page 199 and 200: compare, the more unique the region
Page 201 and 202: Aufderheide, A.C., Neiman, F.D., Wi
Page 203 and 204: Caubet, A., and Poplin, F. 1993. La
Page 205 and 206: Finley, M.I. 1981. Mycenaean palace
Page 207 and 208: Horn, P., and Müller-Sohnius, D.,
Page 209 and 210: Liebowitz, H. 1987. Late Bronze II
Page 211 and 212: Price, T.D., Grupe, G., and Schröt
Page 213 and 214: Sherratt, A., and Sherratt, S. 1991
Page 215 and 216: van der Merwe, N. J., Lee-Thorp, J.
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