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A 16,000 Year-Old Ceramic Human-Figurine from Maina, Russia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

Pamela B. Vandiver  and
Sergey A. Vasil'ev
Pamela B. Vandiver
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education, Washington, D.C.
Sergey A. Vasil'ev
Affiliation:
Institute for Material Culture History, Russian Academy of Sciences, 18 Dvortsovaia emb 191186, St. Petersburg, Russia
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Abstract

The ceramic technology used to construct and fire an image of a human figurine excavated from a 16,000 year old layer at the archaeological site of Maina on the Yenesei River in southern Siberia is reconstructed using x-radiography, x-ray diffraction, optical and scanning electron microscopy with simultaneous energy dispersive x-ray analysis, and electron beam microprobe analysis. Evidence is provided from the archaeological excavation as well as radiocarbon dating. Comparative studies of the clayey soils at the site add contextual and environmental evidence to establish this remarkable technology as having been carried out at the site using a local clay-loam resource.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 712: Symposium II – Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology VI , 2002 , II6.9
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

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References

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