Abstract
The Upper Palaeolithic is characterised by the appearance of iconographic expressions most often depicting animals, including anthropomorphic forms, and geometric signs. The Late Upper Palaeolithic Magdalenian saw a flourishing of such depictions, encompassing cave art, engraving of stone, bone and antler blanks and decoration of tools and weapons. Though Magdalenian settlement exists as far northwest as Britain, there is a limited range of art known from this region, possibly associated with only fleeting occupation of Britain during this period. Stone plaquettes, flat fragments of stone engraved on at least one surface, have been found in large quantities at numerous sites spanning the temporal and geographical spread of the Magdalenian, but they have been absent so far from the archaeological record of the British Isles. Between 2015 and 2018, ten fragments of stone plaquettes extensively engraved with abstract designs were uncovered at the Magdalenian site of Les Varines, Jersey, Channel Islands. In this paper, we report detailed analyses of these finds, which provide new evidence for technologies of abstract mark-making, and their significance within the lives of people on the edge of the Magdalenian world. These engraved stone fragments represent important, rare evidence of artistic expression in what is the far northern and western range of the Magdalenian and add new insight to the wider significance of dynamic practices of artistic expression during the Upper Palaeolithic.
Highlights
The appearance of portable art objects during the Upper Palaeolithic is characterised by a combination of a wide choice of techniques, use of different materials and a diversity of iconographic expression
The engraved fragments of aplite microgranite from Les Varines represent the first evidence of Magdalenian engraved stone plaquettes found in the British Isles, seemingly predating the Magdalenian portable art, parietal engravings and bas-reliefs at Creswell Crags, Derbyshire
The examples from Les Varines are an important extension of the northern and western signature of plaquette production, which remains rare in northern mainland France
Summary
The appearance of portable art objects during the Upper Palaeolithic is characterised by a combination of a wide choice of techniques, use of different materials and a diversity of iconographic expression. Plaquettes are flat pieces of stone used as a support for engraving on at least one surface They are rarely larger than 300mm in maximum dimension and common materials used include sandstone, limestone and schist, though organic examples on flat bone (scapulae) are known [22,23]. They are typically engraved with figurative animals or abstract ‘signs’, which can reflect a range of artistic skill. They are often subject to heating as a result of their association with combustion features and are frequently recovered in fragmented condition, as a result of natural and/or anthropogenic breakage [16,22]
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