CDH researchers and the Star Carr pendant

The paper published in the Internet Archaeology journal presents the research findings of a study of an engraved pendant found at the site in 2015. The Mesolithic pendant has a ‘barbed line’ motif, comparable to artefacts from Denmark.

Digital analysis and visualisation

The Centre for Digital Heritage worked with the Star Carr team to carry out some of the digital capture and visualisations for this research.

Gareth Beale recorded the pendant using a computational photography technique called Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI). RTI enabled researchers to see the small, shallow markings on the object, and provided a high-fidelity record of the artefact.

Colleen Morgan has created a phased GIF of the pendant that visualises the process for creation of the marks.

In addition to RTI, a combination of recording techniques were employed by the Star Carr project, including integrated light microscopy, white light 3D surface scanning, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The Star Carr team also carried out microwear and residue analysis on the item. A 3D model of the pendant was also created.

Read more

You can read more about the techniques used to analyse this fascinating artefact in the Internet Archaeology paper and on the new Star Carr website.  

Internet Archaeology paper - http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue40/8/toc.html

Article on the Star Carr website - http://www.starcarr.com/pendant.html

Reference

Milner, N., Bamforth, M., Beale, G., Carty, J. C., Chatzipanagis, K., Croft, S., Conneller, C., Elliot, B., Fitton, L. C., Knight, B., Kroger, R., Little, A., Needham, A., Robson, H. K., Rowley, C. C. A. and Taylor, B. (2016). A unique engraved shale pendant from the site of Star Carr: the oldest Mesolithic art in Britain. Internet Archaeology, 40, http://dx.doi.org/10.11141/ia.40.8