5b Groß Pampau, GR, c. 500,000 BP, Musk Ox Gallery / b) muskox095

Figuration. Musk ox, tentative identification Ursel Benekendorff. If so, this is the first representation of a musk ox from Ohle gravel pit, Groß Pampau, near Hamburg, Germany. I have set Benekendorff's two images of this artifact against a series of photos of musk ox. The quality of representation is remarkably good. See detailed points of comparison in combined photos (f).

Dating. Collected from the Ohle gravel pit, Mindle glacial moraine. Associated tools have a predominantly Middle Acheulian and early Later Acheulian quality, as one might expect, suggesting that they are Cromerian, OIS 13 = c. 500,000 BP, or older. One may assume some artifacts from this collection might be reworked during the subsequent Holstein warm times, c. 400,000 BP. One cannot rule out sparse mixing or contamination from Riss III glacial moraine, c. 200,000 BP.

Collection. Ursel Benekendorff.

Photo a) and b) © Ursel Benekendorff
10/7/06