A Unique Engraved Shale Pendant from the Site of Star Carr: the oldest Mesolithic art in Britain
In 2015 an engraved shale pendant was found during excavations at the Early Mesolithic site of Star Carr, UK. Engraved motifs on Mesolithic pendants are extremely rare, with the exception of amber pendants from southern Scandinavia. The artwork on the pendant is the earliest known Mesolithic art in...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of York
2016-01-01
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| Series: | Internet Archaeology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue40/8/index.html |
| _version_ | 1797225644971524096 |
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| author | Nicky Milner Michael Bamforth Gareth Beale Julian C. Carty Konstantinos Chatzipanagis Shannon Croft Chantal Conneller Ben Elliott Laura C. Fitton Becky Knight Roland Kröger Aimée Little Andy Needham Harry K. Robson Charlotte C.A. Rowley Barry Taylor |
| author_facet | Nicky Milner Michael Bamforth Gareth Beale Julian C. Carty Konstantinos Chatzipanagis Shannon Croft Chantal Conneller Ben Elliott Laura C. Fitton Becky Knight Roland Kröger Aimée Little Andy Needham Harry K. Robson Charlotte C.A. Rowley Barry Taylor |
| author_sort | Nicky Milner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In 2015 an engraved shale pendant was found during excavations at the Early Mesolithic site of Star Carr, UK. Engraved motifs on Mesolithic pendants are extremely rare, with the exception of amber pendants from southern Scandinavia. The artwork on the pendant is the earliest known Mesolithic art in Britain; the 'barbed line' motif is comparable to styles on the Continent, particularly in Denmark. When it was first uncovered the lines were barely visible but using a range of digital imaging techniques it has been possible to examine them in detail and determine the style of engraving as well as the order in which the lines might have been made. In addition, microwear and residue analyses were applied to examine whether the pendant showed signs that it had been strung or worn, and whether the lines had been made more visible through the application of pigments, as has been suggested for some Danish amber pendants. This approach of using multiple scientific and analytical techniques has not been used previously and provides a methodology for the examination of similar artefacts in the future. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T07:21:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cc6435c11b244aefa8beae57145b6449 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1363-5387 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T14:12:18Z |
| publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
| publisher | University of York |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Internet Archaeology |
| spelling | doaj.art-cc6435c11b244aefa8beae57145b64492024-04-03T09:01:47ZengUniversity of YorkInternet Archaeology1363-53872016-01-014010.11141/ia.40.8A Unique Engraved Shale Pendant from the Site of Star Carr: the oldest Mesolithic art in BritainNicky Milner0Michael Bamforth1Gareth Beale2Julian C. Carty3Konstantinos Chatzipanagis4Shannon Croft5Chantal Conneller6Ben Elliott7Laura C. Fitton8Becky Knight9Roland Kröger10Aimée Little11Andy Needham12Harry K. Robson13Charlotte C.A. Rowley14Barry Taylor15University of YorkUniversity of YorkUniversity of YorkUniversity of YorkUniversity of YorkUniversity of YorkUniversity of ManchesterUniversity of YorkHull York Medical SchoolUniversity of YorkUniversity of YorkUniversity of YorkUniversity of YorkUniversity of YorkUniversity of YorkUniversity of ChesterIn 2015 an engraved shale pendant was found during excavations at the Early Mesolithic site of Star Carr, UK. Engraved motifs on Mesolithic pendants are extremely rare, with the exception of amber pendants from southern Scandinavia. The artwork on the pendant is the earliest known Mesolithic art in Britain; the 'barbed line' motif is comparable to styles on the Continent, particularly in Denmark. When it was first uncovered the lines were barely visible but using a range of digital imaging techniques it has been possible to examine them in detail and determine the style of engraving as well as the order in which the lines might have been made. In addition, microwear and residue analyses were applied to examine whether the pendant showed signs that it had been strung or worn, and whether the lines had been made more visible through the application of pigments, as has been suggested for some Danish amber pendants. This approach of using multiple scientific and analytical techniques has not been used previously and provides a methodology for the examination of similar artefacts in the future.http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue40/8/index.htmlStar CarrYorkshireMesolithicartpendantRTISEMuse wearamuletengraving |
| spellingShingle | Nicky Milner Michael Bamforth Gareth Beale Julian C. Carty Konstantinos Chatzipanagis Shannon Croft Chantal Conneller Ben Elliott Laura C. Fitton Becky Knight Roland Kröger Aimée Little Andy Needham Harry K. Robson Charlotte C.A. Rowley Barry Taylor A Unique Engraved Shale Pendant from the Site of Star Carr: the oldest Mesolithic art in Britain Internet Archaeology Star Carr Yorkshire Mesolithic art pendant RTI SEM use wear amulet engraving |
| title | A Unique Engraved Shale Pendant from the Site of Star Carr: the oldest Mesolithic art in Britain |
| title_full | A Unique Engraved Shale Pendant from the Site of Star Carr: the oldest Mesolithic art in Britain |
| title_fullStr | A Unique Engraved Shale Pendant from the Site of Star Carr: the oldest Mesolithic art in Britain |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Unique Engraved Shale Pendant from the Site of Star Carr: the oldest Mesolithic art in Britain |
| title_short | A Unique Engraved Shale Pendant from the Site of Star Carr: the oldest Mesolithic art in Britain |
| title_sort | unique engraved shale pendant from the site of star carr the oldest mesolithic art in britain |
| topic | Star Carr Yorkshire Mesolithic art pendant RTI SEM use wear amulet engraving |
| url | http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue40/8/index.html |
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