Introduction to Paleoanthropology

Late Upper Paleolithic Cultures

Solutrean

First Discovered

• Solutré (NE France)

Chronology

• ca. 21,000-18,000 BC

Geography

• Limited distribution over SW France and Iberia

Material Culture

• Upper Paleolithic-type lithic industry
• Heat Treatment, Pressure Retouch
• Solutrean points: bifacially retouched leaf points, shouldered points, etc.
• burins, endscrapers, etc.

Settlements

• Some sedentary groups (Fourneau-du-Diable)
• Long stratigraphic sequences

Human remains

• Complex mortuary practices:

No evidence of burials, but manipulation of dead (e.g., reuse of skull: Le Placard)

Artistic expression

Types:

• Engraved limestone blocks
• Engraved Bones
• Parietal art

Characteristics:

• Various techniques applied: painting, engraving
• Distribution and amount of animals represented in tradition of Late Upper Paleolithic: mainly horses and bisons
• Several novelties from Gravettian:
  • First association of parietal art with occupation sites [Low-relief scupture on blocks detached from walls];
  • Representation of animals in line or opposed

Magdelenian

First Discovered

• La Madeleine (Dordogne, France)

Chronology

• ca. 19,000-10,000 BC

Geography

• Widespread distribution over Eurasia

Major cultural centers

• Southwest France (Charente, Dordogne, Pyrénées)
• Northeast Spain
• Central Europe

Material Culture

• Upper Paleolithic-type lithic industry
• Magdalenian blades, burins, etc.
• Rich bone tool industry (harpoons)

Complex mortuary practices

• Children burials

Artistic expression

Types:

• Raw Materials: Great diversity (limestone cave walls and slabs, sandstone, shale, bone, ivory, clay, etc.)
• Techniques: All techniques employed: Engraving, Sculpture, Molding, Cutting, Drawing, Painting
• Both mobiliary and parietal arts present. Out of about 300 sites with parietal art, 250 are attributed to Magdalenian period.
• Types of Figurations:
  • Animals (mainly horses and bisons)
  • Humans (male and female)
  • Hands (positive and negative)
  • Signs (dots, lines