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Symbolic territories in pre- art?

Article in Quaternary International · December 2017 DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2017.08.036

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Symbolic territories in pre-Magdalenian art?

* Stephane Petrognani a, , Eric Robert b a UMR 7041 ArscAn, Ethnologie Prehistorique, Maison de l'Archeologie et de l'Ethnologie, Nanterre, b Departement of Prehistory, Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Musee de l'Homme, 17, place du Trocadero et du 11 novembre 75116, Paris, France article info abstract

Article history: The legacy of specialists in art shows a common point: a more or less clear separation Received 27 August 2016 between Magdalenian art and earlier symbolic manifestations. One of principal difficulty is due to little Received in revised form data firmly dated in the chronology for the “ancient” periods, even if recent studies precise chronological 20 June 2017 framework. Accepted 15 August 2017 There is a variability of the symbolic traditions from the advent of monumental art in Europe, and there are graphic elements crossing regional limits and asking the question of real symbolic territories existence. The different thematic choices also allows to raise territorial kinships between various Keywords: Territories and various regions. fi Graphic traditions The object of this paper is to de ne where these rich and varied symbolic records appear, and how art graphic traditions are distributed in the Western European Paleolithic area, throughout these 15 000 Portable art years. To provide some elements of response to this question, we will draw on the one hand, on the West-Europe formal approaches in the figures, and on the other - on the thematic range used by Paleolithics. Aurignacian © 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd. LGM

1. Introduction into question the notion of progress in Upper Paleolithic graphic manifestations, on the one hand based on too little data at that time The legacy of specialists in Upper Paleolithic art shows a com- firmly dated in the chronology for the “ancient” periods; and, on mon point, because they all highlight a more or less clear separation the other hand, on the neither coarse nor clumsy character of between Magdalenian art and earlier symbolic manifestations. Aurignacian portable art (Ucko, 1987). While the authors do not always characterize in exactly the same In addition, the author mentions the possible existence of way the iconographic content of the stages of their model, a point of different approaches at an early moment of the chronology, which reference is found in the chronological breakdown - that of the was particularly highlighted by the decorated caves, discovered cave. This site, dating between the end of the Solutrean and from the 90s. This clearly visible diversity, and its degree of sig- early Magdalenian (according to Aujoulat, 2004; Delluc and Delluc, nificance seem likely to be one of the determining criteria in the 2003; Leroi-Gourhan, 1965 …), acts as a reference to embody the evolution of graphic productions during these ancient phases main separation between two distinct worlds of form in Franco- (Petrognani, 2013). Iberian rock art: a pre-Magdalenian and a Magdalenian world. In term of chronology, this art of the pre-Magdalenian periods is The idea of a steady evolution of the graphic productions during more and more accurately dated, through the studies of sites like the Paleolithic has been widely discussed and even questioned, Chauvet (Clottes, 2001), Aldene (Ambert et al., 2005), Baume particularly since the 90s, following the discoveries of Cosquer, Latrone (Azema et al. 2012), but also Mayenne-Sciences (Pigeaud, Chauvet, Cussac, La Garma, la Grande grotte d’Arcy … the richness 2004), Margot (Pigeaud et al., 2010), Candamo (Corchόn et al., and diversity of whose productions did not correspond to the 2011), or Altxerri (Ruiz-Redondo et al., 2015). framework established until then (Moro and Garate, 2010). But this The progress of the radiocarbon datings, specially for the pres- critical rereading has existed since the 80s. Notably Peter Ucko calls ence of modern carbon contamination in the pigment specimen, has lately allowed to reconsidered the chronology of Cosquer. Datings on 12 animal figures (32 000e19 000 cal. BP) obtained by using the IntCal 13 curve (Reimer et al., 2013) and OxCal v4.2 * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (S. Petrognani), erobert@mnhn. software (Bronk Ramsey, 2009). These new datings introduce an fr (E. Robert). intermediate period of decoration towards 27 000 cal. BP and https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.08.036 1040-6182/© 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd. S. Petrognani, E. Robert / Quaternary International 503 (2019) 210e220 211 underlines that the oldest figures of , falls in the same first difficulty is that of the direct chronological dating. Among the time range as the 's latest occupation dated, between hundred sites which have been proposed for attribution to these 31 000 and 29 000 cal. BP (Valladas et al., 2017). periods, only eight sites have dating on figures, and 23 others e Within the spaces where these rich and varied symbolic records datings by context (Petrognani, 2013). Therefore, graphical analysis appear, can this new chronological data also help delineate sym- remains dominant to address the question of these decorated en- bolic territories? How are graphic traditions distributed in the sembles, notably based on comparisons with the most recently Western European Paleolithic area, throughout these 15 000 years? discovered sites under study as well as with new datings which To provide some elements of response to this question, we will regularly enrich our chronological panorama. draw on the one hand, on the formal approaches in the figures, and In terms of geography, decorated sites or collections of portable on the other - on the thematic range used by Paleolithics. For that, art are widely distributed with the northern sites of Mayenne- we will try to distinguish the common elements of Aurignacian, Sciences or Arcy-sur-Cure and the Andalusian sites such as Nerja Gravettian and Solutrean symbolic behaviors across the Franco- or La Pileta for the southernmost area. Iberian area, from those clearly more original and specificto In terms of theme and forms, several symbolic trends are also certain areas or certain time periods. clearly shown during this period. In terms of shapes, three main features are present throughout the period of “ancient” rock art: the concave stomach line of … 2. The pre-Magdalenien Palaeolithic art: common ground mammoths, the frontal view of ' horns, the horses' muzzles in the shape of a duck's bill. These ways of drawing are already How should we consider the pre-Magdalenian cave art? The

Fig. 1. 212 S. Petrognani, E. Robert / Quaternary International 503 (2019) 210e220

Fig. 2. present on the walls of the Chauvet cave, and will characterize Through these three treatments of shape, we discern/detect many decorated ensembles until the dawn of the Magdalenian. strong graphic elements that have clearly crossed both periods and Thus horses with “duck's bill” (less than 5% of the corpus) regions. The fact that these treatments are absent in Magdalenian occupy a prominent place in all regions of our study (Fig. 1). They art, but clearly present in the areas where the themes are depicted, are present from the north of France to the south of . The shows a cultural unity of theme and image on which distances, or existence of this feature of shape in Parpallo portable art, and on shape of territories have clearly no impact. No more than the the Bouil-Bleu decorated stone (Airvaux, 2001), shows that groups movements, environmental changes or technical de- graphical rendering transcends the material. velopments (see Figs. 3 and 4). As for the stomach line of the mammoth, the distribution is necessarily more limited, on the scale of that of the theme itself 3. Aurignacian rapprochements (Fig. 2). In fact, the mammoth is currently absent from Andalusian sites and occurs only rarely in the center of Spain or in the Canta- As for the oldest Aurignacian period, the links between Chauvet brian region. However, the Iberian mammoths of Los Casares, El and the portable art of the Swabian Jura were rapidly highlighted Arco B, El Castillo and Pindal, all have a concave stomach line, and by Jean Clottes (1995). thus illustrate the importance of this treatment for the mammoth Among currently confirmed Swabian figurines (Floss, 2015), the theme. This representation of both horse and mammoth is animals are mainly mammoths, lions, horses, bisons and perhaps completely absent from Magdalenian art. rhinos. As for the most recent discoveries, they extend to other less The theme of the is absent in the current stage of research common animals, such as Anatidae (ducks, geese, swans), fish and from Andalousia and the center of Spain. There are only few small mammals. Radiocarbon dating of the Swabian Jura sites occurences in the north of France. The most northern example is (Higham et al., 2012) are entirely consistent and indicate an age for nevertheless characteristic of a frontal representation of the ani- the lower Aurignacian art of around 42 000 years cal BP. Some of mal's horns. Like the mammoth's stomach line, the bison, when it is the images in the Geißenklosterle€ cave, for instance, originate from present in a region, systematically refers to a local domination of the same period. the frontal perspective in the rendering of its horns. This shape All of this corpus echoes that found in the painted caves that can feature will become rare or disappear in the Magdalenian period, be attributed to ancient times. The main difficulty is related to the Magdalenian artists will favor a naturalist perspective. small number of sites that can be attributed with certainty to the S. Petrognani, E. Robert / Quaternary International 503 (2019) 210e220 213

Fig. 3.

Aurignacian. Thanks to recent datings, it is nevertheless possible to beginning of this ante-Magdalenian period, constitutes, for the associate the caves of Baume-Latrone (Azema et al., 2012) and Yonne cavity, a strong chronological evidence. l’Aldene (Ambert et al., 2005), with the Chauvet cave, the general As well as in the Cave of les Gorges, in Jura (David et al., 2014), at dating of which has recently been reaffirmed and respecified the crossroads of the Rhone^ corridor, the Swabian Jura and the Cure (Quiles et al., 2016). valley, even if the dates the dates extend between the end of the If we consider these three sites near the Rhone valley, we find Aurignacian and the beginning of the Gravettian (30160 ± 140BP the main animal themes of the Swabian Jura again: mammoth, lion, GifA 9301 to 24660 ± 330BP). Mammoths, felines, horses, rhinos, bear, rhinoceros, horse, bison. However, their ratios differ: while at bears, megaceros, so many themes and styles like the “duck bill” Chauvet the tryptic mammoth - lion e rhino quite widely domi- that illustrate these links. The clear common feature of these sites is nates, respectively 75, 72 and 65 images (in fourth place - the horse a dominant thematic combination, numerically as well as visually, with 42) (ie 212 of the 436 animal images), at La Baume Latrone the that seems to link not only these decorated ensembles, but also the mammoth dominates (9 of 15 animals), and at l’Aldene, felines are productions of portable art. the most numerous of the small animal corpus (2 and 5 images) In the Cave of Bernoux, in Dordogne, we find this same combi- (Vialou, 1979a). nation of original animal themes which are again dominated by the The impossibility to date directly the black paintings of La mammoth. This combination of four themes (horse, mammoth, Grande grotte d'Arcy-sur-Cure, because the sooty rests are too tiny, feline and rhinoceros) is also based on a diversity of shape in the does not prevent a precise chronological centring of the cavity. depiction of mammoths, which reminds us of the observation made Trasks of torches are dated between 26000 and 27000 BP, what in Chauvet (Petrognani et al., 2014). corresponds to ages radiocarbon obtained on the osseous frag- The Aurignacian art in Dordogne offers, for its part, other more ments and calcined wood which stage between 30160 and 24660 original trends, even if they are not exclusive. Thus, the theme of BP (Baffier on 2005). The thematico-stylistic comparisons between the ibex in Jovelle, Belcayre, La Croze a Gontran and at the Movius - the bestiary decorated with Arcy-sur-Cure in particular the ivory Pataud shelter, links to the Pair-non-Pair decorated device and its statuettes of Swabian Jura or the Chauvet cave figures consolidate six images of goats. Ibex figures are a majority in the cave, notably this chronology of Arcy (Baffier and Girard on 1998). All the ahead of the five horses and three mammoths. advanced chronological arguments today for a membership at the Images of vulvas are also abundant on the decorated blocks in 214 S. Petrognani, E. Robert / Quaternary International 503 (2019) 210e220

Fig. 4.

Dordogne. Recent discoveries on these blocks permit their full and Coliboaia romanian cave (Clottes et al., 2011), where a scientific entire integration into the ancient chronology of the Aurignacian study is underway, underlines a possible even wider extension of (White et al., 2012; Bourrillon et al., 2016) and, at the same time, the favored thematic composition evoked at Chauvet, Aldene or highlight other thematic parallels. Given the repetition of this Bernoux. This is also the case of the Altxerri B wall device in the theme, they clearly constitute a strong marker, and at the same Basque Country, where feline and bear are part of the body of im- time present a parallel with the Chauvet cave (where the theme is ages, several remains of which, at the foot of the walls, have been also present), and also with the art of the Swabian Jura. dated between 40 000 and 33 000 cal. BP (Ruiz et al., 2015). The female figurine of , recently discovered in the It is extremely difficult to summarize the Aurignacian art tra- oldest Aurignacian level of the site (Conard, 2009), is compatible ditions. While trends mainly emerge through animal themes and with the engraved blocks of Castel-Merle valley (White et al., 2012) some stylistic features, they face a variability of conventions, and confirms that this theme is present from the beginning of the embodied by sites like Fumane (Fig. 5). upper Paleolithic period. These examples show us general convergences in the themes 4. Gravettian and widely shared standards present on the scale of the ensemble of Aurignacian culture. But they also highlight elements specific to smaller territories, up to the The first decorated ensembles of the Upper Paleolithic period inside of each site. thus represent a form of ambivalence between quite widely shared A still greater originality appears in Fumane (Veneto, ) - its thematic combinations, illustrating a symbolism established over decorated stones present a previously unseen treatment of form. large areas, and much more original constructions, possible re- The radiometric dating of the archaeological layers suggest ages flections of identities, or local variations given the changes of fre- between 35 000 and 32 000 BP. It is difficult to establish real par- quency of certain themes. allels between the art of the Italian Alps site and the Ardeche cave, The decorated Gravettian ensembles, particularly in the field of or even with the portable art of the Swabian Jura, or with the art of rock art, present a quite well-known and well-dated set (Jaubert, the Aurignacian groups of Dordogne. Nicholas Conard mentions 2008), since at least fifteen sites have either direct dates (on different “Aurignacian artistic traditions” for these symbolic con- drawings or associated archaeological remains) or blocks decorated centrations scattered in area (Conard, 2009). in stratigraphy. In contrast, the recent discovery of rhino and horse figures in the A form of continuity is present in the Gravettian period, at the S. Petrognani, E. Robert / Quaternary International 503 (2019) 210e220 215

gallery) or Candamo (Corchon Rodríguez et al., 2011). Negative hands are also widely distributed: frequently present in the decorated gravettian ensembles. The most impressive series is in Gargas, with more than 250 negative hands, but also a hundred animal figures. The bestiary of the cave is dominated by the horse/bison pair, which represents nearly 75% of the identified animal figures. This fact, as well as the absence of the rhinoceros and the feline in the cave, led Jean Clottes to speak of a “thematic change (…) in the south of France from the beginning of the Gravettian”. The seven representations of mammoths in Gargas qualify this conclusion, even if they do not dominate the body of images as in (twenty-seven occurrences), or in Cougnac (28% of identified ani- mal figures) (Clottes, 1995). Beyond its frequency, the regular presence of the mammoth, combined with its graphic depiction (notably the arched stomach) remains one of the factors giving evidence of a form of unification of the Gravettian period. Although rare in the Pyrenees, we find it in la Galerie des Chouettes, in the cave of Les Trois Freres, where the figure fits into a stylistic similarity with Gargas. It is also present much further north, in Mayenne-Sciences, where available C14 datings fit in to the heart of the Gravettian period (Pigeaud, 2004,Pigeaud et al., 2003). Finally, even if it's still difficult to date the decorated ensembles, it is one of the recurring themes in the Dordogne caves like La Cavaille or Jovelle, and also in the portable art, as on the recently rediscovered engraved plates of Isturitz (Rivero and Garate, 2014), dominated again by the horse/bison pair (whose stylistic treatment ressembles that at Gargas or Cussac). While the mammoth supports the idea of a relative thematic continuity with older sites, the negative hands fully underline this phenomenon. Their presence at Chauvet, but also in Arcy-sur-Cure Fig. 5. - in an early phase of the chronology - anticipates their geographic and numerical explosion during the Gravettian period. Another theme, related to an Aurignacian tradition, illustrates level of the favored presence of certain themes, and also certain even more a remarkable pan-European expansion during the graphic treatments. So the question is still posed regarding the Gravettian period: feminine representations. These images, present attribution of caves such as Roucadour in Quercy. Attributed to the through the vulva pictures on Dordogne or Chauvet decorated earliest phase of Quercy (Lorblanchet, 2010), it shows clear links blocks, show a striking change. with Chauvet and sites of the Rhone Valley. The links between these From the walls of the caves in southwestern France to the plains two regions have also been highlighted (Lorblanchet, 2004; in Ukraine, the Gravettian Venus pervade all the supports: rock art Combier, 1991). The combined presence of mammoth, feline (Laussel), portable art in clay (Dolni Vestonice), in stone (Wil- (what is more, with a muzzle in form of a clover), or even of lendorf) or in ivory (Lespugue). This characteristic treatment of the megaceros, form part of these links (Fig. 6). feminine representations underlines a symbolic unity of the However, Roucadour also evokes strong affinities with other continent between 22000 and 21000 BP, and highlights the close Quercy caves of the early period, which are themselves attributed cultural relationship maintained by Gravettian groups over large to the Gravettian thanks notably to several series of dating. Meg- distances. aceros are very present in Cougnac (Lorblanchet, 2010), as well as The image of the woman endures in the symbolic discourse of mammoths, as, in particular, in Pech-Merle. But other themes, by the , but it is the animal theme of the Central and their frequency, strengthen those links. This is particularly the case Eastern Europe sites, that displays the most spectacular continuity for the signs, groups of wide punctuations, or indented circles. with Aurignacian themes. The Pavlovian and Kostenkian portable These last are also found in Pech Merle and especially Rouca- art fully illustrates this Aurignaco-gravettian continuum in sym- dour, where they are engraved in series (44 counted, Lorblanchet, bolic bestiary of Eastern Europe. 2010). Absent in other ancient sites, they seem therefore to be a Regarding the endurance of certain rock themes, such as the reflection of a local identity (Robert, 2015), perhaps extendable in mammoth or megaceros, a relative continuity appears between Dordogne towards Roc de Vezac. Aurignacian “artistic traditions” and Gravettian themes. But this local record remains a relative exception. The repre- While we can reject the idea of a rupture between these two sented themes appear quite widely shared in the Quercy sites, but moments of the chronology, the omnipresence of negative hands as not only. This is the case of the wide punctuations, which are found well as the characteristic depiction of the female image, constitute at Pech Merle, Cougnac, Les Merveilles (Lorblanchet, 2010), Le original elements that differentiate the “symbolic tradition” of the Moulin de Laguenay (Pigeaud and Primault, 2006; Melard et al., Gravettian groups between 28000 and 22000 BP in Europe, where 2010), le Travers de Janoye (Clottes and Lautier, 1981) or Combe it seems that the graphic concepts are found on the broader cultural Negre (Feruglio et al., 2007). Omnipresent, they also follow the space. So it does not seem possible to identify distinct “symbolic same logic of construction, based on the natural reliefs (Robert, territories”, and even less - original provinces, as could be sensed at 2007). These signs followed the same logic in Cantabria caves, they the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic (Fig. 7). are disposed on natural reliefs in El Castillo, La Garma (intermediate Only limited original creations or constructions still exist, some 216 S. Petrognani, E. Robert / Quaternary International 503 (2019) 210e220

Fig. 6. of which, repeated over several sites, are perhaps the prefiguration between the Dordogne and Charentes, shows a real originality. We of « local phenomena » which will truly appear around the Last can also imagine these creations expanding to the Pigeonnier and Glacial Maximum. Saint Front caves, near Domme, with their remarquable bas-reliefs on the walls (Delluc and Delluc, 1983). The impossibility of dating 5. The Last Glacial Maximum: emergence of local or regional these decorated ensembles with certainty (no direct dating graphic identities? possible, nor direct association with an archaeological context) does not permit us to verify the expansion of the territory of So- Between around 22000 and 17000 BP, Europe experiences an lutrean sculpted art to the southern limits of Dordogne. extremely cold and dry period corresponding to the Last Glacial In addition, Le Roc de Sers, le Fourneau du Diable and l’ Abri du Maximum. The hunter-gatherer groups no longer convey a strong Poisson have some similar iconographic elements including the cultural unity across the continent and the Solutrean techno- disproportionate silhouette of certain carved animals and the complex takes its place in a territory relatively restricted to West- depiction of anatomical details (Aujoulat, 1984). ern Europe. Some convergences are sometimes only visual as illustrated by As for the artistic productions, they seem to present new graphic the example of Gabillou and Lascaux. The study of fifty engraved forms that show a clear evolution, especially through their horses at Lascaux and Gabillou, using morphological criteria geographical spread. On the one hand, there are series of images (Petrognani and Sauvet, 2012), showed that significantly differen- which evoke the legacy of previous phases, notably the Gravettian, tiated treatments of form were implemented in the two caves. In to the point that one speaks in places of “Gravetto-Solutrean” art, particular, the way of depicting the limbs is radically different. especially for the Rhone valley sites (Lorblanchet, 2004; Pigeaud, However, this does call into question the similarities that have 2004). It is in fact difficult, in the absence of direct dating, to been regularly pointed out, but rather underlines that the two sites distinguish which period these sites should be attributed to. are complementary. The very strong visual impact of dynamism of The sculptured art of Le Roc de Sers (Tymula, 2002), Le Fourneau the figures in both caves explains for the most part the given du Diable and of l’Abri du Poisson (“Fish Rock Shelter”)(Delluc and impression of kinship. The presence of the same types of parti- Delluc, 1991), provides an illustration of the art of the Solutrean tioned rectangular signs reinforces this impression. groups of Southwest France and of its innovations. While the With regard to form, the absence of the top of the skull resulting sculpture technique is not new, the repetition of these productions in a gap between the antlers, ears or horns of deer, or goats S. Petrognani, E. Robert / Quaternary International 503 (2019) 210e220 217

Fig. 7.

(Petrognani, 2013), is a stylistic treatment related to Franco-Iberian sharing of symbolic values over a relatively large regional scale ensembles of a similar chronology. Occurrences of this feature of (170 km as the crow flies) (Figs. 6 and 7). Extended even beyond, form in the Solutrean portable art of Parpallo( Villaverde, 1994), in since at least another sign of the same type is identified at Cosquer the Andalusian caves of Ardales, in La Pileta (Villaverde, 2005) and (Clottes et al., 2005), for the LGM, and another in Lascaux (Aujoulat, Nerja (Sanchidrian Torti, 1994), or even in the Cosquer cave (Clottes 2004; Vialou, 1979b) underlining a limited spread, and thus illus- et al., 2005), or on the plates of the Rochefort cave (Pigeaud, 2013), trating a porous nature of territories. Nevertheless few datings are show relative consistency centered on a Solutrean chronology. Its available for LGM. presence on the walls of La Pasiega offers another possible example, Other signs, even more numerous, in the Cantabrians, reflect a as this Cantabrian cave is partly related to the end of Pre- similar trend towards the emergence of true regional symbols. Magdalenian art (Balbin Behrmann and Gonzalez Sainz, 1993; In the Cantabrians, it's quite difficult to identify the specific Corchon, 1994; Gonzalez Sainz, 1999; Gonzalez Sainz and Balbin presence of a Solutrean art, as the works have little or no direct Behrmann, 2002). Nevertheless, the specimens at La Pasiega absolute dating. As for the animal themes, they are characterised by significantly expand a geographic space until now related to the a regional originality: the deer and horses dominate the images Mediterranean border, and demonstrate that it is very tricky to with respectively 31.8% and 17.9% of animal figures. While the deer subordinate a stylistic treatment to a particular region (Fig. 8). is the dominant theme in wall art, it is also present in portable art, In general, the end of the “ancient” period sees the appearance including far from the Cantabrian coast, since we can find an of repeated complex geometric signs, present in several sites, engraved plaque of this theme on the Maitreaux site (Indre-et- which raise the question of a possible regional character Loire, France) (Tymula et al., 2013). (Petrognani and Robert, 2010). Beside the quadrangular shapes of The originality is even more pronounced in the abstract uni- Dordogne, one of the most evocative examples are the Placard verse, where the signs, particularly quadrangular signs, constitute signs. In this Charente cave, where they are the most numerous (10 an important key to reading. Although their periphery has the same signs), they have been dated at a period at least as old as the So- shape, they clearly differ from the Dordogne signs by their internal lutrean (Clottes et al.,1990,1991). The presence of signs constructed filling and growths observable on some of them. It is not a question according to the same model in two Quercy caves, at Pech Merle of identical repetition of form, as we will see in other complex types and Cougnac (Lorblanchet, 2010), where decoration is identified in the Magdalenian, but of almost infinite variations in the rules of between Gravettian and Magdalenian period, highlights the composition (Sauvet et al., 2017). Several dozen quadrangular signs 218 S. Petrognani, E. Robert / Quaternary International 503 (2019) 210e220

Fig. 8. are represented on the walls of El Castillo, the Pasiega A and C or Huchard, Ebbou, Figuier) (Combier, 1991; Lorblanchet, 2010), and Altamira (Fig. 9). Beyond quadrangular signs alone, an almost sys- horses in Aquitaine (Gabillou) (Gaussen, 1964). Nevertheless the tematic use of red pigments is observed. chronology is delicate and bound to the archaeological artefacts. Applied in simple lines, large flat areas, or dotted lines, it em- Central and Eastern European portable art shows few Solutrean bodies a symbolic choice of Cantabrian LGM groups in the caves of indications, Gravetian art endures and is directly followed by La Pasiega, El Arco, Pondra, El Pendo, or of one part of the Garma. Magdalenian art, which marks a « reversal of themes » with now The original red motifs (Robert, 2015) are found in Santian, El the domination of the horse/bison pair in the statuary. Castillo, even in Asturias (Tebellin in particular). This iconographic This rupture brought by Magdalenian art appears in all the unit, involving technique, highlights a phenomenon of symbolic symbolic regions where LGM art was present before and is regionalization. The very cold climate can explain this phenomenon accompanied by a significant stylistic rupture. Michel Lorblanchet, and points to a reduction of interactions and a relative isolation of Jean Combier, and Cesar Gonzalez Sainz observe it respectively in Solutrean groups, put forward in studies of bone and lithic the Lot, the Rhone^ valley and in the Cantabrian region. Michel techniques. Lorblanchet underlines that such a similarity in the evolution of In the caves attributed to the end of Old Upper Palaeolothic a both Rhone and Quercy artistic groups suggests the hypothesis of a phenomenon of regionalization appears. Red deer dominate in the strong original solutrean tradition on both sides of Massif Central Cantabres, engraved mammoths in the Rhone^ valley (Chabot, which would have gradually gone out in the Magdalenian S. Petrognani, E. Robert / Quaternary International 503 (2019) 210e220 219

Fig. 9.

(Lorblanchet, 1989). This solutrean thematic regionalization seems treatment can spread beyond its initial area of concentration. The a forerunner of more complex phenomena which will be estab- symbolic territories thus remain open to a spread, although limited, lished at the heart of the Magdalenian period and of a range of of seemingly distinctive symbols. graphic spaces at several levels (Fuentes et al., in the same volume). Acknowledgments 6. Conclusion We would like to thank our laboratories for their help and A phenomenon of regionalization crystallizes in Middle support, the team Ethnologie prehistorique, UMR 7041 ArScAn, Magdalenian, with a standardization of the naturalistic style. This MAE Nanterre, the team “Comportements des Neandertaliens et specific period sees the disappearance of the « duck-bill » horses des Hommes anatomiquement modernes replaces dans leur con- and mammoths with arched stomachs. texte paleo ecologique ”, UMR 7194 HnHp, CNRS, Museum national The examination of features of form in the depictions of d’Histoire naturelle, Department of Prehistory, and the CREAP different animal species has shown us that some of them were Cartailhac, Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Toulouse. symptomatic of pre-Magdalenian art. Certain themes and certain “ ” styles characterize all of the ancient periods and all of the References geographical areas concerned. These areas can be considered as belonging to a pre-Magdalenian “common ground” of form, while Airvaux, J., 2001. L’art prehistorique de Poitou-Charentes. In: Collection Terres others apparently have a shorter lifetime and a more limited Prehistoriques. De la Maison des Roches, Paris, 224 pp. Ambert, P., Guendon, J.-L., Galant, P., Quinif, Y., Gruneisen, A., Colomer, A., Dainat, D., regional spread, or even restricted to a single site. Beaumes, B., Requirand, C., 2005. Attribution des gravures paleolithiques de la Specifically, beyond the continuity of certain stylistic similar- grotte de l'Aldene (Cesseras, Herault) a l'Aurignacien par la datation des ities, specificities persist, and especially to the geographical and remplissages geologiques. Comptes Rendus Palevol 4, 275e284. Aujoulat, N., 1984. Le Fourneau du Diable, in l'Art des Cavernes, pp. 89e91. spatial scale. The aurignacian diversity (supports, technical, the- Aujoulat, N., 2004. Lascaux. In: Le Geste, l'Espace et le Temps. du Seuil, coll. Arts matics …) gives way to a more homogeneous universe in the rupestres, Paris, 273 pp. Gravettian, which seems to contract territorially in the LGM, but Azema, M., Gely, B., Bourrillon, R., Galant, P., 2012. L’art paleolithique de la Baume Latrone (France, Gard): Nouveaux el ements de datation. Int. Newsl. Rock Art 64, which also sees the territorial assertion in particular with the signs, 6e12. takes out of the rise of Magdalenian. Baffier, D., 2005. La Grande Grotte d'Arcy-sur-Cure (Yonne, France). In: Persistance A symptomatic example of artistic traditions subordinate to a de l’iconographie aurignacienne, in Collectif, Pitture paleolitiche nelle Prealpi relatively confined geography is the engraved deer of the Nalon Venete, Grotta di Fumane et Riparo Dalmeri, Memore del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona, 2 Serie Sezione Scienze dell'Uomo, 9, Preistoria alpina, NR. valley in Spain. We have seen how the treatment of these Asturias Speciale, pp. 76e82. deer stands out from the depiction of this animal in the rest of the Baffier, D., Girard, M., 1998. Les cavernes d'Arcy sur Cure, Collection Terres fi ancient corpus. Even if we can not propose a solid chronological Prehistoriques. La Maison des Roches, Paris, 120 pp., 91 g., biblio. Balbín Behrmann, R., Gonzalez Sainz, C., 1993. Nuevas investigaciones en la cueva framework for this appro, it demonstrates the existence of a con- de La Pasiega (Puente Viesgo, Cantabria). Bol. del Semin. Estud. Arte Arqueol. 59, centration of original treatments within limited geographical areas. 9e34. The presence of a deer with the same features of form at Hornos Bourrillon, R., White, R., Tartar, E., Chiotti, L., Mensan, R., Clark, A., Castel, J.-C., ~ Cretin, C., Higham, T., Morala, A., Ranlett, S., Sisk, M., Deviese, T., Comeskey, D.J., de la Pena, in the center of Cantabria, shows (similar to the ex- 2016. A new Aurignacian engraving from Abri Blanchard, France: implications amples highlighted for bird-shaped signs) that a regional stylistic for understanding Aurignacian graphic expression in Western and Central 220 S. Petrognani, E. Robert / Quaternary International 503 (2019) 210e220

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