The Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian;
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
: ''Magdalénien'') are later
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
s of the
Upper Paleolithic and
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic ( Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymo ...
in
western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. It is named after the
type site of
La Madeleine, a rock shelter located in the Vézère valley, commune of
Tursac
Tursac () is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. ''Abri de la Madeleine'' is the site of Magdalenian prehistoric finds.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Dordogne department
The following ...
, in
France's Dordogne
Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named ...
department.
Édouard Lartet and
Henry Christy
Henry Christy (26 July 1810 – 4 May 1865) was an English banker and collector, who left his substantial collections to the British Museum.
Early life
Christy was born at Kingston upon Thames, the second son of William Miller Christy of Woodbi ...
originally termed the period ''L'âge du renne'' (the
Age of the Reindeer). They conducted the first systematic excavations of the type site, publishing in 1875. The Magdalenian
epoch
In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured.
The moment of epoch is usually decided ...
is associated with
reindeer
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subs ...
hunters, although Magdalenian sites contain extensive evidence for the hunting of red deer, horses, and other large
mammals present in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
toward the end of the
last glacial period. The culture was geographically widespread, and later Magdalenian sites stretched from Portugal in the west to Poland in the east, and as far north as
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, the
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. It is the third
epoch
In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured.
The moment of epoch is usually decided ...
of
Gabriel de Mortillet's cave chronology system, corresponding roughly to the
Late Pleistocene
The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of the Pleistocene Epoch withi ...
.
Besides La Madeleine, the chief stations of the epoch are
Les Eyzies,
Laugerie-Basse, and Gorges d'Enfer in the
Dordogne
Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named ...
; Grotte du Placard in
Charente
Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...
and others in south-west France.
Period biology
The Magdalenian epoch is represented by numerous sites, whose contents show progress in arts and culture. It was characterized by a cold and dry climate, humans in association with the reindeer, and the extinction of the
mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks an ...
. The use of bone and ivory as implements, begun in the preceding
Solutrean epoch, increased, making the period essentially a bone period. Bone instruments are quite varied: spear-points,
harpoon
A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target ani ...
-heads, borers, hooks and needles.
The fauna of the Magdalenian epoch seems to have included tigers and other tropical species along with reindeer,
arctic foxes,
arctic hares, and other polar creatures. Magdalenian humans appear to have been of short stature,
dolichocephalic, with a low retreating forehead and prominent
brow ridges.
Chronology
The culture spans from approximately 17,000 to 12,000
BP, toward the end of the most recent
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
. Magdalenian tool culture is characterised by regular
blade industries struck from
carinate
Carinate is a shape in pottery, glassware and artistic design usually applied to amphorae or vases. The shape is defined by the joining of a rounded base to the sides of an inward sloping vessel. This design is seen in ancient cultures such a ...
d cores.
The Magdalenian epoch is divided into six phases generally agreed to have chronological significance (Magdalenian I through VI, I being the earliest and VI being the latest). The earliest phases are recognised by the varying proportion of blades and specific varieties of scrapers, the middle phases marked by the emergence of a microlithic component (particularly the distinctive
denticulated
This page is a glossary of architecture.
A
B
C
The Caryatid Porch of the Erech ...
microliths), and the later phases by the presence of uniserial (phase5) and biserial 'harpoons' (phase6) made of bone, antler and ivory.
Debate continues about the nature of the earliest Magdalenian assemblages, and it remains questionable whether the Badegoulian culture is the earliest phase of Magdalenian culture. Similarly, finds from the forest of Beauregard near Paris have been suggested as belonging to the earliest Magdalenian. The earliest Magdalenian sites are in France. The
Epigravettian is a similar culture appearing at the same time. Its known range extends from southeast France to the western shores of the
Volga River
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...
, Russia, with many sites in Italy.
The later phases of Magdalenian culture are contemporaneous with the human re-settlement of north-western Europe after the
Last Glacial Maximum
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Late Glacial Maximum, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period that ice sheets were at their greatest extent.
Ice sheets covered much of Northern North America, Northern Eu ...
during the
Late Glacial Maximum
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Late Glacial Maximum, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period that ice sheets were at their greatest extent.
Ice sheets covered much of Northern North America, Northern Eur ...
. As hunter gatherers, Magdalenians did not re-settle permanently in northwest Europe, instead following herds and seasons.
By the end of the Magdalenian epoch, lithic technology shows a pronounced trend toward increased microlithisation. The bone harpoons and points have the most distinctive chronological markers within the typological sequence. As well as flint tools, Magdalenians are known for their elaborate worked bone, antler and
ivory that served both functional and aesthetic purposes, including
perforated batons.
The sea shells and fossils found in Magdalenian sites may be sourced to relatively precise areas and have been used to support hypotheses of Magdalenian hunter-gatherer seasonal ranges, and perhaps trade routes.
In northern Spain and south-west France this tool culture was superseded by the
Azilian culture. In northern Europe it was followed by variants of the
Tjongerian techno-complex. It has been suggested that key Late-glacial sites in south-western Britain may be attributed to Magdalenian culture, including
Kent's Cavern
Kents Cavern is a cave system in Torquay, Devon, England. It is notable for its archaeological and geological features. The cave system is open to the public and has been a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1952 and a Schedule ...
.
Art
Bones, reindeer antlers and animal teeth display crude pictures carved or etched on them of seals, fish, reindeer, mammoths and other creatures.
The best of Magdalenian artworks are a mammoth engraved on a fragment of its own ivory; a dagger of reindeer antler, with a handle in form of a reindeer; a cave-bear cut on a flat piece of
schist
Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...
; a seal on a bear's tooth; a fish drawn on a reindeer antler; and a complete picture, also on reindeer antler, showing horses, an
aurochs
The aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') ( or ) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocene ...
, trees, and a snake biting a man's leg. The man is naked, which, together with the snake, suggests a warm climate in spite of the presence of the reindeer.
In the
Tuc d'Audoubert cave, an 18-inch clay statue of two bison sculpted in relief was discovered in the deepest room, now known as the Room of the Bisons.
Examples of Magdalenian portable art include batons,
figurine
A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with clay ...
s, and intricately engraved projectile points, as well as items of personal adornment including sea shells, perforated
carnivore teeth (presumably necklaces), and fossils.
Cave sites such as
Lascaux
Lascaux ( , ; french: Grotte de Lascaux , "Lascaux Cave") is a network of caves near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne in southwestern France. Over 600 parietal wall paintings cover the interior walls and ceilings of t ...
contain the best known examples of Magdalenian
cave art
In archaeology, Cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin, and the oldest known are more than 40,000 ye ...
. The site of
Altamira in Spain, with its extensive and varied forms of Magdalenian
mobiliary art
Portable art (sometimes called mobiliary art) refers to the small examples of Prehistoric art that could be carried from place to place, which is especially characteristic of the Art of the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic eras. Often made of i ...
has been suggested to be an agglomeration site where groups of Magdalenian hunter-gatherers congregated.
Gallery
File:Propulseur Mas d'Azil.png
File:Magdalenian horse.jpg
File:Paleolithic horse3.JPG
File:Speerschleuder LaMadeleine.jpg
File:Lascaux painting.jpg, Lascaux
Lascaux ( , ; french: Grotte de Lascaux , "Lascaux Cave") is a network of caves near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne in southwestern France. Over 600 parietal wall paintings cover the interior walls and ceilings of t ...
cave painting
File:Lascaux II.jpg, Lascaux cave painting
File:Lascaux 017.jpg
File:Lascaux 015.jpg
File:Lascaux-IV 01.jpg
File:Lascaux, Megaloceros.jpg
File:Lascaux2.jpg
File:Reproduction cave of Altamira 02.jpg, Altamira cave painting
File:9 Bisonte Magdaleniense polícromo.jpg
File:Examples of supposed Magdalenian writing on bony substances Wellcome M0015751.jpg
File:Atlatls, 17-12 kya, upper from La Madeleine rockshelter, lower from Le Mas d'Azil, France - Houston Museum of Natural Science - DSC02033.JPG
File:Propulseur - Faon aux oiseaux.jpg
File:Aiguille os 246.1 Perspective.jpg
File:Magdalenian deer, bird and fish.JPG
File:Magdalenian hinds.JPG
File:Grotte d'Enlène gravures engravings Gravuren.jpg
File:Spear thrower carved as a mammothDSCF6961.jpg
File:MNP - Petroglphe 6 Pferde.jpg
File:Parc de la préhistoire - Cheval bondissant.jpg
File:Asta de ciervo tallada (51390102966).jpg
File:Magdalenian tools 17000 9000 BCE Abri de la Madeleine Tursac Dordogne France.jpg
File:Espátula en forma de pez de la cueva de El Pendo.jpg
File:Cheval de Lourdes.jpg
File:Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Berlin 059.jpg
File:Biche et poissons gravés sur os - grotte de La Vache (Ariège).jpg
File:Bisons Tuc d'Audoubert Musée d'Archéologie Nationale 01042018.jpg
File:Sleeping Reindeer 3 2918856445 7d66cc4796 o.jpg
File:Laténium-dame-Monruz.jpg
Treatment of the dead
Human bones from the Magdalenian often show cut marks and breakage, consistent with
cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...
with both flesh and
bone marrow
Bone marrow is a semi-solid biological tissue, tissue found within the Spongy bone, spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It i ...
being consumed. Some skulls were cleaned of soft tissues, then had the facial regions removed, with the remaining
brain case retouched, possibly to make the broken edges more regular. This manipulation suggests the shaping of skulls to produce
skull cups.
Genetics
The genes of seven Magdalenians, the
El Miron Cluster in Iberia, have shown close relationship to a population who had lived in Northern Europe some 20,000 years previously. The analyses suggested that 70-80% of the ancestry of these individuals was from the population represented by Goyet Q116-1, associated with the
Aurignacian culture
The Aurignacian () is an archaeological industry of the Upper Paleolithic
associated with European early modern humans (EEMH) lasting from 43,000 to 26,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic developed in Europe some time after the Levant, where t ...
of about 35,000 BP, from the
Goyet Caves in modern Belgium.
The three samples of
Y-DNA included two samples of haplogroup
I and one sample of
HIJK. All samples of
mtDNA belonged to
U, including five samples of
U8b and one sample of
U5b.
See also
*
Magdalenian Girl
"Magdalenian Girl" or "Magdalenian Woman" () is the common name for a human skeleton, dated to the boundary between the Upper Paleolithic and the early Mesolithic, ca. 15,000 to 13,000 years old, in the Magdalenian period. The remains were dis ...
*
Swimming Reindeer
The ''Swimming Reindeer'' is a 13,000-year-old Magdalenian sculpture of two swimming reindeer conserved in the British Museum. The sculpture was made in what is now modern-day France by an unknown sculptor who carved the artwork from the tip of ...
*
Art of the Upper Paleolithic
*
List of Stone Age art
*
Haplogroup I (Y-DNA)
*
Pre-Celtic
References
Notes
Footnotes
Bibliography
*
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External links
*
Picture Gallery of the Paleolithic (reconstructional palaeoethnology) Libor Balák at the Czech Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Archaeology in Brno, The Center for Paleolithic and Paleoethnological Research
{{Authority control
Industries (archaeology)
Upper Paleolithic cultures of Europe
Archaeological cultures in Belgium
Archaeological cultures in the Czech Republic
Archaeological cultures in France
Archaeological cultures in Germany
Archaeological cultures in Portugal
Archaeological cultures in Spain