Formulation of tattoo paints from the assemblage of the Upper Paleolithic site of Ushki V (Kamchatka)

Abstract

In recent times, the practice of body modification in sociocultural, psychological, and art studies contexts has gained a new impetus for research. This article presents the results of the analysis of pigments found on the surface of stone artifacts identified as tattooing tools from the assemblage of layer VII of the Upper Paleolithic site of Ushki V (13–12 ka calBP, Kamchatka Peninsula). The aim of this study is to reconstruct the formulation of paints discovered on the surface of stone tools from the collection of Ushki V, that could have been used for tattooing. The reconstruction was carried out by means of determining the composition and microstructure of the paints using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). The conclusions about the structure of colouring substances and the composition of paints are based on the element mapping method, which allows determination of the relationships of chemical elements and establishing the chemical composition of individual components of the microstructure. Seven samples of red and yellow paint from the surface of six tools (carvers) have been thoroughly analysed. As a result, it has been found that three recipes were used for the manufacture of the pigments. The first (red paint) was based on mixing crushed mineral pigment (hematite) with organic binder of animal or vegetable origin. The second (yellow paint) implied the use of limonite, organic binder and a thickener (aluminosilicate material or crushed bone). The third recipe (dark orange paint) included the compound of limonite and organic binder without thickener. The comparison of the formulations with previously obtained data on the analysis of paints from Ushki V allows for the conclusion that there were continuous technological traditions determined by the desired color and purpose of the paint. It has been established that the formulations have analogies both among the assemblages of other Stone Age sites of Eurasia and in ethnographic materials. Theoretical and practical significance of this research lies within extending of focused studies of the culture of peoples of the North and initiating of comparative research into similar Late Paleolithic and Neolithic complexes in the territories adjacent to Kamchatka and in the New World.

Keywords

• kamchatka
• the upper paleolithic
• paints
• tattooing
• elemental mapping
• energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy