The application of biometry and LA-ICP-MS to provenance isolated bones: a study of hominin remains from Oumm Qatafa Cave
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ORIGINAL PAPER
The application of biometry and LA-ICP-MS to provenance isolated bones: a study of hominin remains from Oumm Qatafa Cave, Judean Desert Liora Kolska Horwitz & Patricia Smith & Marina Faerman & Elisabetta Boaretto & Irina Segal
Received: 24 August 2010 / Accepted: 7 February 2011 / Published online: 26 March 2011 # Springer-Verlag 2011
Abstract Three hominin phalanges were recently identified in old faunal collections attributed to the Late Acheulean (Layer D2) dated to ca. 213 Kya, from Oumm Qatafa Cave (Judean Desert), a site excavated in 1928– 1949. In terms of general appearance (colour, patina and Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12520-011-0056-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. L. K. Horwitz (*) National Natural History Collections, Faculty of Life Science, The Hebrew University, Berman Building, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel e-mail: [email protected] P. Smith : M. Faerman The Laboratory of Biological Anthropology and Ancient DNA, The Hebrew University–Hadassah Faculty of Dental Medicine, P.O. Box 12272, Jerusalem 91120, Israel P. Smith e-mail: [email protected] M. Faerman e-mail: [email protected]
adhering sediment), these specimens resembled the fauna with which they were found, but the likelihood of stratigraphic problems especially in old excavations, the presence of 4th millennium B.C. burials in the topmost Layer A at the site and the absence of any mention of Late Acheulean hominin remains in publications relating to the site prompted us to verify that the phalanges were indeed in situ. Osteometric examination showed the phalanges to be indistinguishable from those of Middle Paleolithic Levantine anatomically modern humans (AMHS) as well as Upper Paleolithic and recent populations, thus contributing little to the resolution of their provenance. To further investigate this issue, we compared the elemental composition of the phalanges to that of fauna from the same and overlying archaeological layers using non-destructive laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The results showed a close resemblance in elemental composition between the phalanges and fauna from Layer D2, implying that they are in situ. This would indicate either an early occurrence of AMHS in the region or the presence of an ancestral archaic Homo. We propose that LA-ICP-MS offers a useful minimally invasive method for provenancing isolated human and faunal remains.
E. Boaretto Radiocarbon Dating and Cosmogenic Isotopes Laboratory, Weizmann Institute of Science, P.O.B. 26, Rehovot 76100, Israel e-mail: [email protected]
Keywords Oumm Qatafa Cave . Phalanges . Anatomically modern humans . Late Acheulean . LA-ICP-MS . Element composition . Provenance
E. Boaretto Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel
Introduction
I. Segal Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel e-mail: irena.s
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