Images of camels on a mammoth tusk from West Siberia
Résumé
This study introduces the engravings on a mammoth tusk from the lower reaches of the Tom River in WestSiberia. The tusk was found in 1988 during construction works and was later transferred to the Tomsk StateUniversity, but it remained almost unknown to specialists until now. Radiocarbon dating by AMS reported theage of the tusk as 13,100–13,005 Сal BP (95% confidence level). The surface of the tusk is engraved with imagesof two-humped camels arranged in two pairs. In addition, arrows and wounds within the contours of the animalscan be seen. The comparative analysis of the stylistic features of the camel figures shows that they correspond tothe age of the tusk itself, making them, at present, the oldest camel images in Asia. The discovery of the en-gravings in this region is consistent with the theory of mobile population groups moving to western Siberia fromthe periglacial steppe to the south in the Late Upper Paleolithic.