Internal structure of Mammoth ivory inspired the design of Mizyn (Ukraine) Upper Palaeolithic figurines

Abstract This paper presents the results of digital and microscopic analysis of 18 ivory figurines from Mizyn, Ukraine. Digital preservation has enabled the first detailed technological analysis of these rare artefacts. Results reveal new insights into the symbolism of ivory as a material essential to the creative process. Palaeolithic artists used Schreger and Owen’s lines, the natural patterns within mammoth ivory, to inform the geometric compositions engraved on many of the figurines. This link between engraved and naturally occurring patterns has wider implications for understanding art production elsewhere. Additionally, we present generalisation of recalibrated radiocarbon dates for contexts containing figurines from other European Palaeolithic sites, which place the Mizyn figurines amongst the earliest anthropomorphic images known in Europe post Last Glacial Maximum. Results suggest that these artefacts represent an independent stylistic phenomenon in the chronology of art-style development during the Palaeolithic period.