Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T00:14:44.190Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The origins of decorated ostrich eggs in the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 April 2020

Tamar Hodos ,
Caroline R. Cartwright ,
Janet Montgomery ,
Geoff Nowell ,
Kayla Crowder ,
Alexandra C. Fletcher  and
Yvonne Gönster
Tamar Hodos*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, UK
Caroline R. Cartwright
Affiliation:
Department of Scientific Research, The British Museum, UK
Janet Montgomery
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Durham University, UK
Geoff Nowell
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, UK
Kayla Crowder
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Durham University, UK
Alexandra C. Fletcher
Affiliation:
Department of the Middle East, The British Museum, UK
Yvonne Gönster
Affiliation:
Deutsches Schloss- und Beschlägemuseum, Velbert, Germany
*
*Author for correspondence: ✉ [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Decorated ostrich eggs were traded around the Mediterranean during the Bronze and Iron Ages. Research on their origins has focused primarily on decorative techniques and iconography to characterise the producers, workshops and trade routes, thereby equating decorative styles with cultural identities and geographic locations. This is problematic, as craftspeople were mobile and worked in the service of foreign royal patrons. The present study investigates the provenance of ancient ostrich eggs, reconsiders trade patterns via isotopic indicators and characterises decorative techniques in order to assist in the identification of culturally distinct decorative styles or regional preferences.

Keywords

MediterraneanMiddle EastNorth AfricaBronze AgeIron Agestable isotopesostrich eggs
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 94 , Issue 374 , April 2020 , pp. 381 - 400
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aruz, J., Benzel, K. & Evans, J.. 2008. Beyond Babylon: art, trade, and diplomacy in the second millennium BC. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.Google Scholar
Aruz, J., Graff, S. & Rakic, Y.. 2014. Assyria to Iberia at the dawn of the Classical Age. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.Google Scholar
Asch, K. 2005. GME 5000 geological map of Europe and adjacent areas. Hannover: BGR.Google Scholar
Barnett, R.D. 1982. Ancient ivories in the Middle East. Jerusalem: Hebrew University of Jerusalem.Google Scholar
Bass, G. 1997. Prolegomena to a study of marine traffic in raw materials to the Aegean during the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries BC, in Laffineur, R. & Betancourt, P.P. (ed.) TEXNH: 153–76. Liège: Université de Liège.Google Scholar
Bini, M. et al. 2019. The 4.2 ka BP event in the Mediterranean region: an overview. Climate of the Past 15: 555–77. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-555-2019CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blum, J.D., Taliaferro, E.H., Weisse, M.T. & Holmes, R.T.. 2000. Changes in Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca and 87Sr/86Sr ratios between trophic levels in two forest ecosystems in the north-eastern USA. Biogeochemistry 49: 87–101. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006390707989CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowen, G.J. & Wilkinson, B.. 2002. Spatial distribution of δ18O in meteoric precipitation. Geology 30: 315–18.10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0315:SDOOIM>2.0.CO;22.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, L.H., Urban, E.K. & Newman, K.. 1982. The birds of Africa, volume 1. London: Academic. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0315:SDOOIM>2.0.CO;2Google Scholar
Brownson, C.L. 1922. Xenophon. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Brysbaert, A. 2013. ‘The chicken or the egg?’ Interregional contacts viewed through a technological lens at Late Bronze Age Tiryns, Greece. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 32: 233–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/ojoa.12013CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buzon, M.R., Simonetti, A. & Creaser, R.A.. 2007. Migration in the Nile Valley during the New Kingdom period: a preliminary strontium isotope study. Journal of Archaeological Science 34: 1391–1401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2006.10.029CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Capo, R.C., Stewart, B.W. & Chadwick, O.A.. 1998. Strontium isotopes as tracers of ecosystem processes: theory and methods. Geoderma 82: 197–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7061(97)00102-XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conkey, M.W. & Hastorf, C.A. (ed.). 1993. The uses of style in archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cooper, R.G., Horbanczuk, J.O., Villegas-Vizcaino, R., Sebei, S.K., Mohammed, A.E.F. & Mahrose, K.M.A.. 2010. Wild ostrich (Struthio camelus) ecology and physiology. Tropical Animal Health and Production 42: 363–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-009-9428-2CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Derry, D.R. 1980. A concise world atlas of geology and mineral deposits. London: Mining Journal Books.Google Scholar
Evely, D. 1993. Minoan crafts. Göteborg: Aström.Google Scholar
Feldman, M.H. 2014. Communities of style. Chicago (IL): Chicago University Press.10.7208/chicago/9780226164427.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feng, Q.L., Zhu, X., Li, H.D. & Kim, T.N.. 2001. Crystal orientation regulation in ostrich eggshells. Journal of Crystal Growth 233: 548–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-0248(01)01611-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finne, M., Woodbridge, J., Labuhn, I. & Roberts, C.N.. 2019. Holocene hydro-climatic variability in the Mediterranean: a synthetic multi-proxy reconstruction. Holocene 29: 847–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683619826634CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freitag, S. & Robinson, T.J.. 1993. Phylogeographic patterns in mitochondrial DNA of the ostrich (Struthio camelus). The Auk 110: 614–22. https://doi.org/10.2307/4088425CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gönster, Y. 2014. Straußeneier in Bewegung: ein Indikator für Kulturkontakte im Mittelmeerraum? Frankfurter elektronische Rundschau zur Altertumskunde 23: 1–19.Google Scholar
Grayson, A.K. 1991. Assyrian rulers of the early first millennia BC I (1114–859 BC) (Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, Volume 2). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442671089CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gunter, A. 2009. Greek art and the Orient. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hartman, G. & Danin, A.. 2010. Isotopic values of plants in relation to water availability in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Oecologia 162: 837–52. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1514-7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartman, G. & Richards, M.. 2014. Mapping and defining sources of variability in bioavailable strontium isotope ratios in the Eastern Mediterranean. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 126: 250–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2013.11.015CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heredia, A., Rodríguez-Hernández, A.G., Lozano, L.F., Peña-Rico, M.A., Velázquez, R., Basiuka, V.A. & Bucio, L.. 2005. Microstructure and thermal change of texture of calcite crystal in ostrich eggshell Struthio camelus. Materials Science and Engineering C 25: 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2004.07.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herles, M. 2007. Der Vogel Strauß in den Kulturen Altvorderasiens. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin 139: 173–212.Google Scholar
Hermann, G. 2000. Ivory carving of the first millennium: workshops, traditions and diffusion, in Uehlinger, C. (ed.) Images as media. 267–87. Fribourg: University Press.Google Scholar
Hodos, T. 2009. Colonial engagements in the global Mediterranean Iron Age. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 19: 221–41. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774309000286CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Atomic Energy Agency. 2001. GNIP maps and animations. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency. Available at: http://www-naweb.iaea.org/napc/ih/documents/userupdate/Waterloo/ (accessed 28 January 2020).Google Scholar
Johnson, B.J., Fogel, M.L. & Miller, G.H.. 1998. Stable isotopes in modern ostrich eggshell: a calibration for paleoenvironmental applications in semi-arid regions of southern Africa. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 62: 2451–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7037(98)00175-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kandel, A.W. 2004. Modification of ostrich eggs by carnivores and its bearing on the interpretation of archaeological and paleontological finds. Journal of Archaeological Science 31: 377–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2003.09.007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kingdon, J. 1990. Arabian mammals. New York: Academic.Google Scholar
Koehl, R.B. 2006. Aegean Bronze Age rhyta. Philadelphia (PA): INSTAP.Google Scholar
Kohn, M.J. 1996. Predicting animal delta δ18O: accounting for diet and physiological adaptation. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 60: 4811–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7037(96)00240-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohn, M.J. 2010. Carbon isotope compositions of terrestrial C3 plants as indicators of (paleo)ecology and (paleo)climate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 107: 19691–95. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1004933107CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koyama, T. & Tennyson, A.J.D.. 2016. Respiratory pores on ostrich Struthio camelus (Aves: Struthionidae) eggshells. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 923: 51–55. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38810-6_7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manlius, N. 2001. The ostrich in Egypt: past and present. Journal of Biogeography 28: 945–53. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2699.2001.00599.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Markoe, G.E. 1992. In pursuit of metal: Phoenicians and Greeks in Italy, in Kopcke, G. & Tokumaru, I. (ed.) Greece between east and west, 10th–8th centuries BC: 61–84. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern.Google Scholar
Le Meaux, H. 2013. Des ivoires et des oeufs. Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez 43: 85–110. https://doi.org/10.4000/mcv.4839Google Scholar
Napolitano, F. 2007. Considerations on the making and use of colours in Etruria during the Middle Orientalising period. Etruscan Studies 10: 11–25. https://doi.org/10.1515/etst.2004.10.1.11Google Scholar
Phillips, J. 2000. Ostrich eggshells, in Nicholson, P.T. & Shaw, I. (ed.) Ancient Egyptian materials and technology: 332–33. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Poplin, F. 1995. Sur le polissage des oeufs d'autruche en archéologie, in Buitenhuis, H. & Uerpmann, H.-P. (ed.) Archaeozoology of the Near East, volume 2. 126–39. Leiden: Backhuys.Google Scholar
Potts, D. 2001. Ostrich distribution and exploitation in the Arabian Peninsula. Antiquity 75: 182–90. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00052881CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rathje, A. 1986. Five ostrich eggs from Vulci, in Swaddling, J. (ed.) Italian Iron Age artefacts in the British Museum: 397–404. London: British Museum.Google Scholar
Richards, P.D.G., Richards, P.A. & Lee, M.E.. 2000. Ultrastructural characteristics of ostrich eggshell: outer shell membrane and the calcified layers. Journal of the South African Veterinary Association 71: 97–102. https://doi.org/10.4102/jsava.v71i2.687CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robinson, T.J. & Matthee, C.A.. 1999. Molecular genetic relationships of the extinct ostrich, Struthio camelus syriacus: consequences for ostrich introductions into Saudi Arabia. Animal Conservation 2: 165–71. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-1795.1999.tb00062.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roots, C. 2006. Flightless birds. Westport (CT): Greenwood.Google Scholar
Rowan, Y.M. & Golden, J.. 2009. The Chalcolithic period of the Southern Levant: a synthetic review. Journal of World Prehistory 22: 1–92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-009-9016-4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Savio, G. 2004. Le uova di struzzo dipinte nella cultura Punica. Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia.Google Scholar
von Schirnding, Y., van der Merwe, N.J. & Vogel, J.C.. 1982. Influence of diet and age on carbon isotope ratios in ostrich eggshell. Archaeometry 24: 3–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4754.1982.tb00643.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tebes, J.M. 2014. The symbolic and social world of the Quarrayyah pottery iconography, in Tebes, J.M. (ed.) Unearthing the wilderness: 163–202. Leuven: Peeters.Google Scholar
Texier, P.J. et al. 2010. A Howiesons Poort tradition of engraving ostrich eggshell containers dated to 60 000 years ago at Diepkloof rockshelter, South Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 107: 6180–85. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0913047107CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Torelli, M. 1965. Un uovo di struzzo dipinto conservato nel Museo di Tarquinia. Studi Etruschi 33: 329–65.Google Scholar
Winter, I. 1976a. Carved ivory furniture panels from Nimrud: a coherent subgroup of the North Syrian style. Metropolitan Museum Journal 11: 25–54. https://doi.org/10.2307/1512683CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winter, I. 1976b. Phoenician and north Syrian ivory carving in historical context: questions of style and distribution. Iraq 38: 1–22.10.2307/4200021CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winter, I. 1982. Is there a south Syrian style of ivory carving in the early first millennium BC? Iraq 43: 101–30. https://doi.org/10.2307/4200140CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Hodos et al. supplementary material

Hodos et al. supplementary material

Download Hodos et al. supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 1.1 MB