Researchers find the oldest hippopotamus ivory object in the Iberian Peninsula

The oldest hippopotamus ivory object found in the Iberian Peninsula
Photo Credit: University of Barcelona

Researchers at the Prehistoric Studies and Research Seminar (SERP) of the University of Barcelona have identified the oldest piece made of hippopotamus ivory in the Iberian Peninsula. This finding comes from the site in Bòbila Madurell (Sant Quirze del Vallès, Barcelona), dating from the second quarter of the third millennium BC, during the Copper Age.  At that time, there was no hippopotamus ivory in the Mediterranean. Therefore, this object opens up new perspectives for the study of long-distance exchange networks with the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. The discovery has been published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

The object was documented in 1977 during ancient excavations and is deposited in the Museu d’Història de Sabadell. UB researchers have now identified its material (hippopotamus ivory), carried out a taxonomic and traceological study, and dated the context of the site with radiocarbon dating. 

A Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) together with anatomical and taxonomic identification, allowed the identification of the object as a first lower incisor of Hippopotamus amphibius. This object is just over 10 cm long by a maximum width of 13.2 mm and weighing 11 g, with a polished surface and small patches of red pigment. 

​​​​​​Researchers have proposed the piece may be some kind of stylized human figurine or idol. However, other possibilities are equally plausible, and it could be an object linked to textile activity, perhaps a beater. This hypothesis is related to the presence of two spindle whorls in the same structure in which it appeared and to the stains of red pigment, made of a mixture of iron oxyhydroxides and an organic binder, such as animal fat. 

The discovery opens up new perspectives for the study of exchange networks in the Mediterranean during the Copper Age.

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Image Credit: University of Barcelona

“The finding opens the door to consider possible long-distance exchange networks and to consider the role of this and other exotic materials in the growing social complexity of the Iberian Peninsula during the Chalcolithic, also known as the Copper Age. These contacts have already been demonstrated by the arrival and exploitation of African and Asian elephant ivory in the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula following the North African route. However, hippopotamus ivory is rarer and is often dated to later stages,” say the researchers. “This object therefore opens the door to consider other distribution routes centered on the north-western Mediterranean, such as those that had operated during the Catalan Middle Neolithic Sepulcres de Fossa (pit graves) culture,” they add. 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Funding: This study, in which SERP members have collaborated with researchers from other entities, has received funding from the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Catalonia (project ARQ001SOL-178-2022) and from the State Research Agency of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (grant PID2020-116908GB-I00R, funded by MCIN/AEI 10.13039/501100011033). 

Published in journal: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

Title: First evidence of hippopotamus ivory exchange networks in north-eastern Iberian Peninsula: The object of Bòbila Madurell (Barcelona, Spain)

Authors: José Miguel Morillo León,  Africa Pitarch Martí,  Silvia Albizuri,  F.Javier López-Cachero,  Araceli Martín Cólliga,  Millan Mozota,  Salvador Moyà-Solà, and Jordi Nadal

Source/Credit: University of Barcelona

Reference Number: arch092525_01

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