TY - JOUR

T1 - Pigments on Upper Palaeolithic mobile art. Spectral analysis of figurines from Mal’ta culture (Siberia)

AU - Лбова, Людмила Валентиновна

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - The use of paints by Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers in culture and practice has a diverse context. We analysed available materials in the Mal’ta-Buret’ collections and revealed the wide use of various colours dated to the initial stage of the Late Glacial Maximum in Siberia. The results proposed for discussion concern the identification of the unique use of colourful components for decorating ivory figurines and the analysis of pigment traces in samples of the cultural layer of the Palaeolithic settlements. Results are presented from microscopic and spectral analysis of Siberian prehistoric mobile art containing traces of colouring materials found in the museum collections of the Mal’ta and Buret’ sites (1928-1958 Mal’ta excavation by M. Gerasimov and 1936 Buret’ excavation by A. Okladnikov). Our microscopic examination of the complete collection of figurines and objects of personal ornamentation revealed traces of spectra of red, blue/light blue and green colours in the collections of the State Historical Museum, the State Hermitage, and the Irkutsk Regional Art Museum. All samples were subjected to spectral analysis with varying degrees of accuracy, as a result of which complex compositions of pigments were prepared. In addition colouring samples of spots of the Mal’ta cultural layer sediments were investigated.Preliminary analysis of the pigments was carried out using a Bruker M1 Mistral spectrometer, SEM-EDX by Bruker Quantax 70 and Hitachi TM3000, and IR-Furje spectroscopy. It seems as if the painting of the objects appears as part of the technological process of manufacturing the figurines. It is also possible that the figurines were carried in bags (containers), together with various pigments, so that the traces of coloring were only preserved in recessed areas of the product surfaces.

AB - The use of paints by Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers in culture and practice has a diverse context. We analysed available materials in the Mal’ta-Buret’ collections and revealed the wide use of various colours dated to the initial stage of the Late Glacial Maximum in Siberia. The results proposed for discussion concern the identification of the unique use of colourful components for decorating ivory figurines and the analysis of pigment traces in samples of the cultural layer of the Palaeolithic settlements. Results are presented from microscopic and spectral analysis of Siberian prehistoric mobile art containing traces of colouring materials found in the museum collections of the Mal’ta and Buret’ sites (1928-1958 Mal’ta excavation by M. Gerasimov and 1936 Buret’ excavation by A. Okladnikov). Our microscopic examination of the complete collection of figurines and objects of personal ornamentation revealed traces of spectra of red, blue/light blue and green colours in the collections of the State Historical Museum, the State Hermitage, and the Irkutsk Regional Art Museum. All samples were subjected to spectral analysis with varying degrees of accuracy, as a result of which complex compositions of pigments were prepared. In addition colouring samples of spots of the Mal’ta cultural layer sediments were investigated.Preliminary analysis of the pigments was carried out using a Bruker M1 Mistral spectrometer, SEM-EDX by Bruker Quantax 70 and Hitachi TM3000, and IR-Furje spectroscopy. It seems as if the painting of the objects appears as part of the technological process of manufacturing the figurines. It is also possible that the figurines were carried in bags (containers), together with various pigments, so that the traces of coloring were only preserved in recessed areas of the product surfaces.

U2 - 10.7485/QU66_8

DO - 10.7485/QU66_8

M3 - Article

VL - 66

SP - 177

EP - 185

JO - Quartar

JF - Quartar

SN - 0375-7471

ER -