The Case of La Marche (Lussac-Les-Châteaux, Vienne)1
Open Archaeology 2018; 4: 239–261 Original Study Simone Chisena*, Christophe Delage On the Attribution of Palaeolithic Artworks: The Case of La Marche (Lussac-les-Châteaux, Vienne)1 https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2018-0015 Received April 29, 2017; accepted December 12, 2017 Abstract: In this paper, we have explored the possibility of assigning the humanthemed engravings from La Marche to their authors, according to the method outlined by J.M. Apellaniz in the 1980s. The method employed here follows the first of the three stages postulated by Apellaniz: macroscopic observation, microscopic analysis and experimental protocol. From our study emerged a pattern of five groups and sixteen hands at work in this site. We believe, therefore, that it is possible to speak of La Marche as an “art workshop”, where portable art was produced and taught. Keywords: Magdalenian art; portable art; La Marche; authorship; attribution 1 Introduction The cave of La Marche, located in the town of Lussac-les-Châteaux in the French Département of Vienne (France), is by far one of the most intriguing portable prehistoric art discoveries of the 20th century. What makes this site outstanding in the European panorama is not just the amount of mobile art items (more than 3,000 engraved stones) but the fact that, out of these, numerous human representations may be encountered; so far, the largest concentration of human individual depictions in the whole Upper Palaeolithic in Europe. In this paper, we focused on the human-themed engravings from La Marche, followed the lines traced on the plaquettes and boulders to read the portraits’ outlines and, by applying a variation of the method devised by J.M.
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