Microstructural,chemical and isotopic evidence for the origin of late neolithic leather recovered from an ice field in the Swiss Alps |
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Authors: | Jorge E. Spangenberg Montserrat Ferrer Pascal Tschudin Marquita Volken Albert Hafner |
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Affiliation: | 1. Institute of Mineralogy and Geochemistry, University of Lausanne, Building Anthropole, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland;2. Institute of Geology and Paleontology, University of Lausanne, Building Anthropole, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland;3. Centre for Calceology and Historical Leather, Gentle Craft, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland;4. Archaeological Service of the Canton Bern, 3001 Bern, Switzerland |
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Abstract: | Archaeological leather samples recovered from the ice field at the Schnidejoch Pass (altitude 2756 m amsl) in the western Swiss Alps were studied using optical, chemical molecular and isotopic (δ13C and δ15N of the bulk leather, and compound-specific δ13C analyses of the organic-solvent extracted fatty acids) methods to obtain insight into the origin of the leather and ancient tanning procedures. For comparison, leathers from modern native animals in alpine environment (red deer, goat, sheep, chamois, and calf/cow) were analyzed using the same approach. Optical and electron microscopically comparisons of Schnidejoch and modern leathers showed that the gross structure (pattern of collagen fibrils and intra-fibrils material) of archaeological leather had survived essentially intact for five millennia. The SEM studies of the hairs from the most important archaeological find, a Neolithic leather legging, show a wave structure of the hair cuticle, which is a diagnostic feature for goatskins. The variations of the bulk δ13C and δ15N values, and δ13C values of the main fatty acids are within the range expected for pre-industrial temperate C3 environment. The archaeological leather samples contain a mixture of indigenous (from the animal) and exogenous plant/animal lipids. An important amount of waxy n-alkanes, n-alkan-1-ols and phytosterols (β-sitosterol, sitostanol) in all samples, and abundant biomarker of conifers (nonacosan-10-ol) in the legging leathers clearly indicate that the Neolithic people were active in a subalpine coniferous forest, and that they used an aqueous extract of diverse plant material for tanning leather. |
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Keywords: | Archaeological leather Fatty acids Neutral lipids Gas chromatography&ndash mass spectrometry Bulk stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios Compound-specific isotope analysis SEM Neolithic Melting ice patch Climatic changes Switzerland |
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