Magdalenian

Magdalenian

Distribution of Magdalenian sites in Europe (pink) along with those of theEpigravettian(red). Distribution of the Magdalenian in southern Britain not shown
Geographical range	Western Europe
Period	Upper Paleolithic Mesolithic
Dates	c. 17,000 – c. 12,000 BP
Type site	Abri de la Madeleine
Major sites	Cave of Altamira,Kents Cavern,Lascaux
Preceded by	Solutrean
Followed by	Azilian,Ahrensburg culture

See also:Prehistoric Europe

Magdaleniancultures (alsoMadelenian;French:Magdalénien) are laterculturesof theUpper PaleolithicandMesolithicinwestern Europe.They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago.It is named after thetype siteofLa Madeleine,a rock shelter located in the Vézère valley, commune ofTursac,inFrance'sDordognedepartment.

Édouard LartetandHenry Christyoriginally termed the periodL'âge du renne(theAge of the Reindeer). They conducted the first systematicexcavationsof the type site, publishing in 1875. The Magdalenian is associated withreindeerhunters, although Magdalenian sites contain extensive evidence for the hunting of red deer, horses, and other largemammalspresent inEuropetoward the end of thelast 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 asFrance,theChannel Islands,England,andWales.Besides La Madeleine, the chief stations of the Magdalenian areLes Eyzies,Laugerie-Basse,and Gorges d'Enfer in theDordogne;Grotte du Placard inCharenteand others in south-west France.

Magdalenian peoples produced a wide variety of art, including figurines and cave paintings. Evidence has been found suggesting that Magdalenian peoples regularly engaged in (probably ritualistic)cannibalismalong with producingskull cups.

Genetic studies indicate that the Magdalenian peoples were largely descended from earlier Western EuropeanCro-Magnongroups like theGravettiansthat were present in Western Europe over 30,000 years ago prior to theLast Glacial Maximum,who had retreated to southwestern Europe during the LGM. Madgalenian peoples were largely replaced and in some areas absorbed byEpigravettian-related groups ofVillabruna/Western Hunter Gathererancestry at the end of the Pleistocene.

Period biology

Magdalenian cave painting

The Magdalenian 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 themammoth.The use of bone and ivory as implements, begun in the precedingSolutrean,increased, making the period essentially a bone period. Bone instruments are quite varied: spear-points,harpoon-heads, borers, hooks and needles.

The fauna of the Magdalenian seems to have includedcave lionsreindeer,arctic foxes,arctic hares,and other cold weather specialists.Magdalenian humans appear to have been of short stature,dolichocephalic,with a low retreating forehead and prominentbrow ridges.

Chronology

The culture spans from approximately 17,000 to 12,000BP,toward the end of the most recentice age.Magdalenian tool culture is characterised by regularbladeindustries struck fromcarinatedcores.

The Magdalenian 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 distinctivedenticulatedmicroliths), and the later phases by the presence of uniserial (phase5) and biserial 'harpoons' (phase6) made of bone, antler and ivory.

Magdalenian people dwelt in tents such as this one of Pincevent (France) that dates to 12,000 years ago.

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. TheEpigravettianis a similar culture appearing at the same time. Its known range extends from southeast France to the western shores of theVolga River,Russia, with many sites in Italy.

The later phases of Magdalenian culture are contemporaneous with the human re-settlement of north-western Europe after theLast Glacial Maximumduring theLate Glacial Maximum.As hunter gatherers, Magdalenians did not re-settle permanently in northwest Europe, instead following herds and seasons.

By the end of the Magdalenian, 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 andivorythat served both functional and aesthetic purposes, includingperforated 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 theAzilianculture. In northern Europe it was followed by variants of theTjongeriantechno-complex. It has been suggested that key Late-glacial sites in south-western Britain may be attributed to Magdalenian culture, includingKent's Cavern.

Art

Antler carving, France, 15,000 BC

Bones, reindeer antlers and animal teeth display 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 the form of a reindeer; a cave-bear cut on a flat piece ofschist;a seal on a bear's tooth; a fish drawn on a reindeer antler; and a complete picture, also on reindeer antler, showing horses, anaurochs,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 theTuc d'Audoubertcave, 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,figurines,and intricately engraved projectile points, as well as items of personal adornment including sea shells, perforatedcarnivoreteeth (presumably necklaces), and fossils.

Cave sites such asLascauxcontain the best known examples of Magdaleniancave art.The site ofAltamirain Spain, with its extensive and varied forms of Magdalenianmobiliary arthas been suggested to be an agglomeration site where groups of Magdalenian hunter-gatherers congregated.

Gallery

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  Lascauxcave painting
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  Lascaux cave painting
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  Altamiracave painting
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Treatment of the dead

Some skulls were cleaned of soft tissues, then had the facial regions removed, with the remainingbrain caseretouched, possibly to make the broken edges more regular. This manipulation suggests the shaping of skulls to produceskull cups.Finds of defleshed (as evidenced by cut marks) and cracked bones with human chewing marks atGough's Cave,England suggests that the Magdalenian peoples there engaged incannibalism.Cannibalism has been suggested at a dozen other Magadelian sites across the culture's geographic range, representing 25% of all Magdalenian sites, far more than any other European Paleolithic culture.It has been suggested that Magdalenian peoples practiced a form offunerary endocannibalism,where upon the death of a member of the community, they were ritually dismembered and consumed by other members of the group, with their skulls being used to create skull cups.At other Magdalenian sites primary burial with no evidence of cannibalism is observed, with a handful of sites showing alternating evidence of cannibalism and primary burial at different occupation layers. At sites with primary burial, genetic analysis of these individuals indicate that they are more closely related to the people of theEpigravettianculture/Villabruna clusterthan to the Magdalenians that practiced cannibalism (who belong to the GoyetQ2 cluster).

Genetics

The genes of seven Magdalenians, theEl MironCluster 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 theAurignacian cultureof about 35,000 BP, from theGoyet Cavesin modern Belgium.It has also been found that Magdalenians are also closely related to westernGravettianswho inhabited France and Spain prior to the Last Glacial Maximum.The 15,000 year old GoyetQ2 individual from Goyet Caves is often used as a proxy for Magdalenian ancestry.Analysis of genomes of GoyetQ2-related Magdalenians suggest that like earlier Cro-Magnon groups, they probably had a relatively dark skin tone compared to modern Europeans.A 2023 study proposed that relative to earlier Western European Cro-Magnon related groups like Goyet Q116-1-related Aurignacian and the Western Gravettian associated Fournol cluster, the Goyet-Q2-related Magdalenians appear to have carried significant (~30% ancestry) from theVillabruna cluster(thought to be of southeastern European origin, and sharing affinities to West Asian peoples not found in earlier European hunter-gatherers) associated with theEpigravettian.

The three samples ofY-DNAincluded two samples of haplogroupIand one sample ofHIJK.All samples ofmtDNAbelonged toU,including five samples ofU8band one sample ofU5b.

Around 14-12,000 years ago, theWestern Hunter-Gatherercluster (which predominantly descended from the Villabruna cluster, with possible ancestry related to the Goyet-Q2 cluster), expanded northwards across the Alps, largely replacing the Goyet-Q2 cluster associated Magdalenian groups in Western Europe.In France and Spain, significant GoyetQ2-related ancestry persisted into theMesolithicandNeolithic,with some Neolithic individuals in France and Spain largely ofEarly European Farmerdescent showing significant GoyetQ2 ancestry.

Transition from MagdalenianGoyetancestry (green ,Goyet Q2) toWestern Hunter Gatherer(WHG) Villabruna ancestry (orange ) in European sites, according to timeline and climate evolution.

See also

• Magdalenian Girl
• Swimming Reindeer
• Art of the Upper Paleolithic
• List of Stone Age art
• Haplogroup I-M170

References

Bibliography

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Madelenian".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 283–284.
• Charles, Ruth (1996). "Back into the North: the Radiocarbon Evidence for the Human Recolonisation of the North-Western Ardennes after the Last Glacial Maximum".Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society.62:1–17.doi:10.1017/s0079497x00002711.ISSN0079-497X.S2CID128580542.
• Conkey, M.W.; Beltrán, A.; Clark, G.A.; Echegaray, J.G.; Guenther, M.G.; Hahn, J.; Hayden, B.; Paddayya, K.; Straus, L.G.; Valoch, K. (October 1980). "The Identification of Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Aggregation Sites: The Case of Altamira [and Comments and Reply]".Current Anthropology.21(5): 609–630.doi:10.1086/202540.ISSN0011-3204.S2CID145367811.
• Enloe, J. (2001). "Magdalenian". In Peregrine, P.N.; Ember, M. (eds.).Encyclopedia of Prehistory.Boston, MA: Springer. pp. 198–209.doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-1187-8_16.ISBN978-1-4684-7131-1.
• Fu, Q.; Posth, C.; Hajdinjak, M.; et al. (May 2, 2016)."The genetic history of Ice Age Europe".Nature.534(7606): 200–205.Bibcode:2016Natur.534..200F.doi:10.1038/nature17993.PMC4943878.PMID27135931.
• Hemingway, M.F. (1980).The Initial Magdalenian in France.B.A.R.ISBN0860541045.OCLC7368169.
• Housley, R.A.; Gamble, C.S.; Street, M.; Pettitt, P. (1997). "Radiocarbon evidence for the Lateglacial Human Recolonisation of Northern Europe".Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society.63:25–54.doi:10.1017/s0079497x0000236x.ISSN0079-497X.S2CID130323509.
• Lartet, E.; Christy, H. (1875).Reliquae Aquitanicae: being contributions to the archaeology of Périgord and adjoining provinces of Southern France.London: Williams & Norgate.
• de Sonneville-Bordes, D.; Perrot, J. (1956). "Lexique typologique du Paléolithique supérieur".Bulletin de la Société préhistorique de France.53(7): 408–412.doi:10.3406/bspf.1956.3357.ISSN0037-9514.
• Straus, Lawrence Guy (1992).Iberia Before the Iberians.University of New Mexico Press.

External links

• "Pictures and description of the La Madeleine site".2009-03-01. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-03-01.Retrieved2019-09-28.
• Picture Gallery of the Paleolithic (reconstructional palaeoethnology)Archived2017-06-14 at theWayback Machine,Libor Balák at the Czech Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Archaeology in Brno, The Center for Paleolithic and Paleoethnological Research