Magdalenian Societies Research Articles

The Magdalenian site Kleszczowa 9, Pilica commune, Silesian voivodship (Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, Poland). Multi-aspectual analysis of the flint inventory and the importance of the site

The site no. 9 in Kleszczowa is located within the region of the so-called Barańskie Mountains, within a distance of ca. 7 km from the locality named Pilica, Silesian voiv. In the course of the field survey and trial excavations conducted in the area of the site since 2012 relics of the Late Palaeolithic settlement were discovered. Based on technological and typological traits flint inventory obtained from the site was classified as typical of the Magdalenian cultural tradition. Distinctive groups of artefacts were single-platform cores for blades with changed orientation, at various stages of exploitation and blade blanks with diagnostic en éperon butts. Amongst tools there were recorded mainly burins, endscrapers, perforators and truncated blades. Raw materials used for production of artefacts were, in great majority, high quality Jurassic flints, the outcrops of which occurred within direct surroundings of the site. Flint assemblage from the site Kleszczowa 9 was subjected to multi-aspect technological and functional analysis. In this paper the authors would like to stress the results of use-wear analysis, in particular, which revealed that nearly half of the artefacts investigated in this respect bore traces of utilisation for processing of wood, meat and hide. On few of them there were detected traces indicating processing of silica plants and elaboration of soaked bone. Moreover, many forms bore traces of hafting and organic substance, being most likely relics of some sort of a binder. Apart from these traces the artefacts under scrutiny were characterised by an extremely high degree of post-depositional destruction, resulting from deep ploughing employed within the area of the site. The results of analysis performed for flint assemblage from the site Kleszczowa 9 correspond well with the current state-of-the-art referring to utilisation of tools by the Magdalenian societies, and they undoubtedly extend our knowledge upon behaviour of humans at the decline of the Pleistocene in the region of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland.

Drawing in the depths: spatial organization patterns related to Magdalenian cave art

The creation of rock art in the deep areas of caves was one of the most unique symbolic activities of Magdalenian societies in southwestern Europe between 13.5 and 21 thousand years ago. Previous research has suggested that these works of art were not placed in caves at random but rather their location corresponds to a pre-established structure. However, despite the suggestive idea of pre-planning the decoration of the endokarst, it is challenging to demonstrate the relationship between different works and between them and their immediate spatial context due to the lack of common objective criteria. In this study, we have examined the iconographic and spatial characteristics of 500 Magdalenian graphic units in nine caves in the Cantabrian and Pyrenees mountain ranges (southwestern Europe) to identify patterns of graphic construction based on their cave location. We designed a workflow that includes geomorphological analysis for a virtual reconstruction of the state of the caves during the Magdalenian, analysis of graphic units (GU) through geographic information systems (GIS) using a Python script, and multivariate statistical study of the spatial and iconographic parameters of these figures. This has allowed us to identify different groups of figures: some were specifically created to be seen, using various techniques and selecting locations with good visibility, accessibility, or capacity to accommodate people, while others sought the opposite. There is also a correlation between the techniques used and their location in caves, perhaps aiming for resource economization. These data support the existence of different uses for the deep sectors of caves during the Magdalenian period.

Interconnected Magdalenian societies as revealed by the circulation of whale bone artefacts in the Pyreneo-Cantabrian region

Coastal adaptations of Palaeolithic foragers along the north Atlantic seaboard have received renewed attention in the last decade and include growing evidence for exploitation of whale bone by Late Glacial Magdalenian groups to the north of the Pyrenees. Here we present a systematic revision of Magdalenian osseous industries from the Cantabrian region designed to explore whether this phenomenon was more widely shared by hunter-gatherer groups along the Atlantic coast of the northern Iberian Peninsula. Fifty-four whale bone objects were identified from 12 of the 64 sampled sites. Essentially represented by large, finished weapon elements (projectile points), these objects are primarily associated with the middle phase of the Cantabrian Magdalenian, and overlap slightly with the beginning its upper and probably the end of its lower phases. More broadly, the circulation of these objects evinces regular, long-distance (ca. 600 km) communication networks operating on both sides of the current French and Spanish Basque Country between 17.8 and 15 cal ka BP. The structure of this network poses interesting questions concerning potential social and/or economic interactions between Magdalenian groups from the Pyrenees and neighbouring Cantabrian region. We suggest that the use of whale bone by these particularly mobile hunter-gatherer groups for the production of hunting weapons was connected to the longer use-life afforded by the large size of this particular raw material. This choice potentially reflects attempts to offset raw material transport costs by privileging their regular maintenance rather than the replacement of hunting weaponry. This growing body of evidence for the exploitation of marine resources during the Magdalenian further reinforces the Bay of Biscay being the backdrop to the emergence of the first regular, diversified and organized coastal economies at the end of the Last Glaciation.

BETWEEN MAGDALENIAN AND EPIGRAVETTIAN. A CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF THE PALAEOLITHIC ON THE POLISH-UKRAINIAN BORDER

The terrains of Poland, located north of the Carpathians and the Sudetes, have been almost completely abandoned during the period of the LGM sensustricte. The reoccupation of Polish territories took place not until the end of LGM. These areas were then settled by the societies of the Magdalenian complex – a tradition that included upland areas of Western and Central Europe. On the basis of today's state of knowledge, it can be concluded that the eastern borders of Poland are at the same time the eastern boundary of the Magdalenien settlement. Five Magdalenian sites from the areas of today's Podkarpackie Voivodship are known (fig. 1). In the 1940s, a single-row harpoon linked to Magdalenian was found in Przemyśl. Further discoveries of sites fall into the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Four of the mhave been discovered up to this day: in Hłomcza, Grodzisko Dolne, Wierzawice and Łąka. This sites are only short-lived campsprovided small inventories. So far, no traces of large, longer settled base camp types have been found. If this situation is not only the result of the current state of research, then it may suggest that the areas of south-eastern Poland were part of a larger territory exploited by some Magdalenian community. On the basis of the analysis, it may be assumed that this territory may have covered the areas of eastern Poland. Magdalenian settlement in eastern Poland continues throughout the presence of Late Magdalenian societies in Central Europe, from Dryas I to Alleröd. It means that the population, or traditions of this culture, reached the eastern periphery relatively quickly and for a long time. The question arises if the Magdalenian population, functioning in the eastern borderlands, occupied areas not covered by any previous settlement, and whether were there contacts between them and representatives of other traditions – Epigravettian, whose settlement extends east of today's Polish borders on the territory of Ukraine. Finally, the last question is whether the line of the San is the final eastern limit of Magdalenian. This last question should be answered in the affirmatively, though not categorically. So far, we do not know of any Magdalenian sites from the areas east of Poland. The answer to the remaining questions is difficult. A certain light is being shed on them by the discovery of the site in Święte. The part of the site studied so far provided a small concentration of lithic artefacts – flakes and blades as well as several tools. These materials were described as Epigravettian. The TL dates obtained from the profile indicate that it is contemporary to the Magdalenian settlement. Perhaps, therefore the Magdalenian population who came to this area inhabited the areas that were occupied by the “Epigravettian” population? Perhaps we are also dealing with a zone penetrated by both these communities? So far, we know only one Epigravettian site from this area, which is contemporary to the Magdalenian settlement, but its significance in the discussion of Magdalenien-Epigravettian relations is very important. To what extent this borderland was the area of contacts and what the consequences could have been is unexplained yet. Apart from the few possible imports of Volhynian flint in Magdalenian inventories (Wierzawice, Grodzisko Dolne?), there are no other elements that could be a material confirmation of such contacts. An in-depth analysis of possible contacts on the west-east axis is also hindered by the poor level of recognition of the Polish-Ukrainian borderland on the Ukrainian side. Research conducted in the south-east of Poland shows that the Polish-Ukrainian borderland is an important area through which the border between two cultural traditions passes at the beginning of the Late Pleistocene. This is an extremely important area in discussion on the relationship between Magdalenian and Epigravettian. Today's knowledge and questions set the prospects for further work. Key words: Epigravettian, Magdalenian, Upper Paleolithic, South-Eastern Poland, Polish-Ukrainian borderland, cultural contacts, imports.

An approach to Palaeolithic networks: The question of symbolic territories and their interpretation through Magdalenian art

The Magdalenian (20,500–13,000 cal. BP) is an important period for the cultural evolution of societies in the European Upper Palaeolithic. It is characterized by a great increase in settlements and products, probably reflecting demographic growth. Along with other material evidence, symbolic products (art and ornaments) clearly expand. In association with the multiplication of representations, some of them become highly normalized (included geometric signs) whereas others develop a great diversity of forms (such as human depictions).The density of sites and more-or-less normalized products make possible an original spatial interpretation, that is probably unprecedented for Palaeolithic societies. Beyond highlighting the diffusion of some concepts over long distances, these rich data allow a deeper analysis of exchange, influence, and non-influence connections. Consequently, the question arises of the identification of what can be called “territories” (spaces built and delimited by human occupations) or “symbolic territories”. We define “symbolic territories” as spaces without visible material frontiers, symbolic through the weight of the ideas, the shared social norms and the installation of concepts by the societies in their close environment.We propose to examine this question through the prism of symbolic productions: body ornaments, portable art, rock art. Thousands of pieces of symbolic evidence assigned to the Magdalenian and a better stratigraphic definition for this period offer a favourable context for discussing the social implications of the results of several analyses: the distribution of themes in space, the presence of types of sign or figurative subjects contained in a narrow space, the identification of individual images and collective graphic norms. Comparing these approaches to series from the Middle and Upper Magdalenian, in which the evidence is the most abundant, will allow us to consider the nature of perceptible “territories”. Then we will question the relationships between human groups through identity and mechanisms of otherness in Magdalenian societies.

Master and apprentice: Evidence for learning in palaeolithic portable art

This paper presents the results of the statistical analysis of 280 pieces of Cantabrian and Pyrenean Middle Magdalenian portable art. Particular technical traces left on the medium by the act of engraving were identified through microscopic analysis and used to build a quantitative estimation of the overall technical aptitude of the engraver. Some traces considered as accidents or errors in the tracing were counted negatively, whereas others reflecting control of the tool and mastership in the use of various techniques were counted positively. A multivariate analysis based on this quantitative index, along with criteria including the type of medium was carried out using Correspondence Factor Analysis and completed with relevant statistical tests. The analysis clearly distinguishes three groups of pieces: those with a negative index, those that present a low positive index resulting from a balance between positive and negative traces, and those with a highly positive index.These different categories of pieces may be tentatively assigned to different levels of experience in tool control and engraving techniques. The mean value of the technical index seems to be correlated with the type of medium and differs significantly in the various sites studied in the corpus. These data allow us to pose some hypotheses concerning the transmission of knowledge in Magdalenian societies, such as differential access to raw materials according to the engraver's experience, and different functionality of sites based on their production of decorated objects.

The public and private use of space in Magdalenian societies: Evidence from Oelknitz 3, LOP (Thuringia, Germany)

The site of Oelknitz (Thuringia, Germany) is among the largest and in terms of spatial organisation most complex Magdalenian open air sites known to date, rich in evident structures. The current paper reports evidence from the youngest, latest phase of occupation at Oelknitz Structure 3. It is demonstrated that this structure represents a dwelling construction characterised by different spatially distinct activity zones. Several hypotheses can be drawn from this evidence in order to understand basic principles on Magdalenians’ settlement behaviour and their social cohesion.

Archeozoological study of the macromammal remains stratigraphically associated with the Magdalenian human burial in El Mirón Cave (Cantabria, Spain)

The presence of abundant macromammal remains in the level in which the first Magdalenian human burial ever found in the Iberian Peninsula affords an outstanding opportunity to reconstruct aspects of the subsistence strategy of the hunter–gatherer group to which the deceased woman may have belonged. The analyses reported here, in addition to rejecting the hypothesis of deliberate faunal grave goods or funerary offerings, give us a better understanding of how Lower Magdalenian societies exploited available food resources, providing a first glimpse of how the El Mirón site fitted within the overall paleoeconomic framework of the Oldest Dryas phase of the Late Glacial in Cantabrian Spain. Furthermore, the particular location of the site at the ecotone between the Cantabrian Mountains and the valley of the Asón River, not far from the coastal lowlands, provides evidence of a highly efficient, productive system for exploiting the available ungulate game of the region.

The depiction of the individual in prehistory: human representations in Magdalenian societies

The Magdalenian stage of the Upper Palaeolithic is renowned for its ‘art’, both in the form of portable objects and of motifs and depictions on cave walls. Many of these portray animals, with human imagery playing a relatively minor role. Systematic analysis of human images from three separate zones of south-western France demonstrates that different styles of image were chosen by different communities. The evocative power of the human form, and the conceptual importance of the human image as a depiction of the self, highlights the significance of these Magdalenian representations. Particular attention is drawn to the realistic styles of portrayal employed in some parts of the region. This, it is argued, betokens the arrival of the individual, and the regional styles illustrate the presence of separate Magdalenian territories, occupied by communities that were in contact with one another but that chose different approaches to the human form as expressions of group identity.

Le Magdalénien moyen et la trajectoire historique des sociétés du xvie millénaire av. J-C en France centrale

In western Europe, the techno-economic changes that affected human societies during the 16th millennium BC suggest a deep reformulation of social relations that led to the emergence of Magdalenian features, thanks to a powerful cultural acceleration process. In central France, these mutations, contemporary with the Heinrich 1 climatic event, took place in a paleohistorical framework whose structure was less distended than in other regions: the cultural answers seem to disappear behind social “waves” (hypertrophy of the circulation of lithic raw materials, the sudden resurgence of blade debitage) expressed in this area since the early Upper Paleolithic. They allow us to discern, in the long term, how the original experiments of the Middle Magdalenian materialized. In the short term, some limited geological episodes, such as the recovery of the volcanic activity of the Massif Central around 16 ka cal BC, offer some possible stimuli of the rapid changes that affected technical systems. Their variations reveal the conditions, the aspects and the rhythms of the emergence of new ideological attributes that formed the traditional basis of Magdalenian societies.

Magdalenian societies in the Massif Central (France) : archaeological and paleohistorical perspectives on the Long-Term (16.5-11.5 ky BP)

The chronology of the most extensive Late Pleistocene glaciation in the eastern Pyrenees is now well established, but climatic variations during the subsequent Last Glacial-to-Interglacial Transition (LGIT) are much less well documented. The aim of this research is to fill that gap. We present a new series of 22 10Be exposure ages from a sequence of moraines in the upper Ariège catchment, and update 64 previously published exposure ages from seven other valleys. Based on (i) geomorphological maps of successive generations of ice-marginal deposits and (ii) their age distributions, followed by (iii) glaciological modeling to infer corresponding mass-balance gradients and equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs), we reconstruct glacier behaviour in the eastern Pyrenees during the LGIT and retrieve paleoclimatic parameters for each glacial stillstand. Results document rapid deglaciation involving four relative stillstands, with an ELA rise of ∼410 m and increases in temperature and precipitation of ∼4 °C and ∼40%, respectively, between ∼18 ka (Greenland Stadial GS-2.1b) and ∼14.5 ka (Greenland Interstadial GI-1). A cold and dry environment prevailed from ∼18 ka onward, and deglaciation was almost complete by GI-1. Only small glaciers persisted as late as ∼12.3 ka in cirques where local conditions allowed it. These patterns are compatible with a transient Polar Front Jet Stream repositioning to latitudes of 40–42°N between 18 and 16 ka, with Westerlies-dominated circulation not yet feeding precipitation to the mountain belt abundantly from the northwest, and outbursts of polar air meeting with cool sea waters in the western Mediterranean mostly suppressing precipitation from Mediterranean sources.

Evolutionary Trends in Magdalenian Societies in southwestern France (18-14 Ky calBP) : Survey of a Complex Process

During the mid-to-late Pliocene (ca. 4–3 Ma), several hominin species were present in central Sahel, eastern and southern Africa. The potential for the discovery of hominin remains from this interval is limited by the availability of exposed Pliocene deposits and the ability to investigate them. As a result, most discoveries have been made in the Afar region of Ethiopia and in the Lake Turkana basin, thus unveiling only a portion of Pliocene hominins' probable geographical presence. In this study we provide a continental view of geographic areas potentially accessible to these hominins. To do so, we estimate the climatic envelope suitable for mid-to-late Pliocene hominin presence, using the earth system model IPSL-CM5A and the Maxent habitat suitability algorithm. Our analysis reveals high habitat suitability for these hominin species in semi-arid regions where annual thermal amplitude and mean annual precipitation are moderate, mostly corresponding to tropical xerophytic shrublands. Our habitat model estimates geographically continuous, suitable climatic conditions for hominins between central Sahel and northeastern Africa, but not between eastern and southern Africa. This discontinuity suggests that southern African and eastern African hominins were separated by an environmental barrier that could only be crossed during particularly favourable periods or by undertaking long-range dispersal over climatically hostile habitats. Under climate conditions of northern hemisphere summer at perihelion this climatic barrier is not present. In contrast, the Turkana basin, the Laetoli region, and a large part of southern Africa remain suitable for all precession angles, suggesting that these areas may have functioned as refugia. The constant presence of these stable areas combined with the periodic establishment of corridors for dispersion can potentially explain hominin diversity in eastern Africa.

Magdalenian societies in the Massif Central (France): Paleohistorical perspectives on the long-term (16.5–11.5 ka BP)

The notion of rupture dominates reflections on the prehistoric occupation of the Massif Central (France). From this perspective, the recent Upper Palaeolithic is interpreted through a prism of migrations or climatic determinism. All studies confirm a marginal occupation of this territory during the LGM and at the beginning of the Late Glacial. More than a historiographical balance, this article reviews the definition of early Magdalenian stages in the Massif Central and attempts to place them in an evolutionary process.This approach leads to the proposal of new diagnostic elements for chrono-cultural determination. Not only is the presence or absence of some typical tool types used, but an attempt is made to recognize whole (or parts of) coherent lithic systems. The aim of this paper is to illustrate this methodology through well-documented examples: data from the sequence of the Abri Durif in Enval (Sol de la Grange and Fond de l'Abri, Vic-le-Comte, Puy-de-Dôme, France) clearly highlights the differences between two subphases. This paper presents the results of the first analyses of these lithic assemblages, focusing on microliths whose particular typo-technological characteristics are analyzed in detail (strong backed bladelets of the Sol de la Grange vs. bladelets with marginal right backing of the Fond de l'Abri).This distinction between two chronological and technological traditions is discussed, substantially changing the classical evolutionary schema between Magdalenian and Badegoulian in this region. Particular chrono-regional episodes can be identified in the huge Magdalenian “mosaic”. Based on radiocarbon data, a new subdivision in the Paleolithic sequence of the French Massif Central (Middle Magdalenian vs. Upper Magdalenian) is proposed, reflecting the emergence of a particular paleohistorical event. Dominated by a relative arrhythmic pattern, this transition seems to reflect a greater span of time, through the successive emergence and development of technical and symbolic attributes that may be considered as representative of cultural identity of Magdalenian societies.

The evolution of Magdalenian societies in South-West France between 18,000 and 14,000 calBP: Changing environments, changing tool kits

In south-western France, between 18,000 and 14,000 calBP, socio-economic changes are evident in several spheres of Magdalenian hunter-gatherer activities which brought with them an array of transformations in osseous and lithic tools. Targeted prey species, although still dominated by ungulates, also show an evolution during a period that was marked by significant climatic and environmental changes that can be correlated with cultural developments. Changes in procurement strategies and new patterns in osseous and lithic weaponry are accompanied by the maintenance of social networks across large regions, while at the same time there appears to be a geographic contraction of groups within regional procurement networks. Ungulates remain the primary prey species but are supplemented by small game. While it is important to evaluate the forces driving behind technological and socio-economic processes through time, cultural evolution within each techno-complex ought to be accounted for as well. In order to evaluate these internal developments, a more precise radiometric framework is necessary, which integrates studies of osseous and lithic technology with available archaeozoological data. This contribution presents the first results of such an undertaking based on a higher-resolution seriation of technological innovations and their implications in hunting activities. The rhythm of change appears to be complex and nonlinear, and it highlights the innovative nature of Magdalenian weaponry. These rapid changes, with respect to the Upper Paleolithic as a whole, provide insight into the impact of social interactions as cultural stimulation, as well as how resource availability and human demography functioned as factors of changes.

Processes of change in Magdalenian societies in the Pyrenean isthmus (20–16 ky cal BP)

The author uses a detailed analysis of lithic assemblages to propose a major social and economic change in the Pyrenees around 18 ky cal BC, roughly the watershed between the Lower and Middle Magdalenian periods. Nomadic groups begin to settle down, occupy loose territories, move raw materials over vast distances and specialise in manufacture for hunting and domestic use. These trends coincide with a cold period and an increase in grassland, the Heinrich Stadial.