Unique computer tomograph helps with research
An international team of researchers is examining 1.6 million-year-old percussion tools in Mainz with the help of a 3D computer tomograph that is unique in Europe. The tools found in Ethiopia date back to the Paleolithic period and were made from different materials, as Iva Calandra from the Leibniz Center for Archaeology (Leiza) explained in Mainz on Wednesday. In order to draw conclusions about their use, the raw materials are also being examined in various special laboratories at Leiza.
"We are investigating the hypothesis that early humans selected the various stone raw materials specifically according to certain uses of the tools," explained project leader Professor Erella Hovers from the Archaeological Institute of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, according to the press release. "Our aim is to assign the specific use by analyzing the raw materials used and the traces of use." Calandra from Leiza spoke of the "first major archaeological project" on the CT scanner, which has been in use since April. The aim is to find out "why people chose different raw materials for different purposes".
In order to get the computer tomograph with its granite structure weighing around 15 tons into the Leiza building, it had to be hoisted over the 23-metre-high domed ceiling of the new building, which is not yet closed. Larger objects - up to 2.5 meters long, 1 meter in diameter and weighing up to 100 kilograms - can be scanned in the device. However, a second X-ray source can also scan objects measuring five or ten millimetres, explained the experts.
The unique 3D computer tomograph is instrumental in conducting extensive science research on ancient percussion tools. To further enhance our understanding, the raw materials of these tools are also being analyzed through various research labs at Leiza.
Source: www.dpa.com
