Magdalenian cultures
Magdalenian cultures refer to prehistoric societies that thrived in Western Europe between approximately 18,000 and 10,000 years ago, during the latter part of the Paleolithic era. Named after the La Madeleine rock shelter in France, these cultures are noted for their advanced tool-making techniques, utilizing materials like flint, bone, and antler to create efficient weapons and tools. The Magdalenian people primarily hunted reindeer, which constituted a significant part of their diet, alongside other game such as mammoths and horses.
A hallmark of the Magdalenian period is the remarkable cave art, characterized by vibrant and intricate depictions of animals, including bison and now-extinct aurochs. Famous sites like Lascaux and Altamira showcase these artistic achievements, which provide insights into their cultural and ecological context. The period, often referred to as the "Age of Reindeer," coincided with the last Ice Age, leading to a challenging, tundra-like environment that required adaptability.
As the climate began to warm approximately 13,000 years ago, the Magdalenian peoples faced significant changes, ultimately leading to their decline and the transition to more settled agricultural lifestyles. This marked a pivotal shift in human history, transitioning from nomadic hunter-gatherer societies to the beginnings of more permanent communities.
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Magdalenian cultures
The Magdalenian cultures are prehistoric peoples who lived in Western Europe about 18,000 to 10,000 years ago. The cultures and the period in which they lived were named for an archeological site in southwestern France. The Magdalenian peoples were the final major human cultures of the Paleolithic era and lived during a period of global cooling near the end of the last Ice Age. The Magdalenian period is also referred to as the “Age of Reindeer” after one of the main sources of food for the hunter-gatherer cultures of the era. The period is characterized by the use of more advanced tools and weapons made from rock, bone, and antler. The Magdalenian cultures also created numerous examples of cave art, including some of the most famous surviving cave paintings in Europe.
Background
The Paleolithic era marks a period in human prehistory that lasted from about 2.6 million years ago to about 10,000 years ago. Its name means “Old Stone Age” from the Greek words paleo (old) and lithos (stone). The Paleolithic is considered to have begun when the early ancestors of humans developed the first crude stone tools. These first tools were chipped stones used for cutting and pounding. Over time, early humans began making more advanced tools, chipping the stones into simple handaxes and knives. By about 300,000 years ago, human ancestors had attached chipped, pointed stone to wooden poles, developing the first spears.
In the later Paleolithic era, beginning about 40,000 years ago, prehistoric humans began making more refined and polished tools. While stone was still a primary material, they also started making tools from bones, antlers, and ivory. The first known works of human art date back at least to about 100,000 years ago, but it was not until about 40,000 years ago that the first examples of cave paintings appear. Early forms of cave art tended to feature handprints and rock carvings known as petroglyphs, but over time, the works became more elaborate and colorful. Later cave art typically featured paintings of animals such as deer and bison.
Overview
Archaeologists often define specific prehistoric cultures by the types of tools they used and name them after an archeological site where a significant discovery was made. For example, the Solutrean period—the cultures that preceded the Magdalenian—were named for a site at Solutré, France. The Magdalenian cultures were named for La Madeleine, a prehistoric rock shelter discovered in southwestern France. French archeologists Édouard Lartet and Henry Christy first explored the site in the 1860s and 1870s, discovering numerous tools, bracelets, necklaces, and ivory and antler carvings. In 1926, archeologists at the site discovered the skeleton of a four-year-old boy dating back to the Magdalenian period. The child was buried in a ritual manner and found with jewelry made from shells and animal teeth.
The Magdalenian cultures were primarily spread over Western Europe, concentrated in what is today Spain, France, Belgium, and Germany. Some Magdalenian sites have also been found as far west as Portugal and as far east as Poland. The period in which the cultures lived—roughly 18,000 to 10,000 years ago—was dubbed the “Age of Reindeer” by Lartet and Christy. Reindeer made up a significant portion of the Magdalenian diet, although the people also fished and hunted red deer, mammoths, horses, and other mammals.
For most the Magdalenian period, the northern hemisphere was still locked in an ice age that had reached its greatest extent about 22,000 years ago. Much of continental Europe would have been under tundra-like conditions, with cooler summers and even colder winters. The people primarily lived in caves or rock shelters, residing in temporary seasonal camps during the summer hunting months.
Magdalenian tools were mostly made from carved flint and often had triangular or semi-curved blades. These were sometimes set in handles made of bone or antler. They also used bone, antler, or ivory to make sewing needles, chisels, hammers, spearheads, and jewelry. The cultures were also noted for their use of microliths, which were small shaped stones that could be used to perform more intricate tasks or as cutting instruments or projectile points. Magdalenian hunters are also believed to be the first to use a spear-throwing device made of bone and antler to increase the range and accuracy of their spears.
Magdalenian artists were known for their decorative carvings in bone, ivory, and rock. They engraved objects from figurines to arrow and spear points. Most of their designs featured animals such as seals, fish, mammoths, and bears. However, the most well-known impact of Magdalenian art was the development of highly detailed cave paintings that utilized mural-like designs and a wealth of bright pigments. Like other forms of prehistoric art from the era, these paintings predominantly featured images of animals. Most common were bison, reindeer, and a now-extinct type of wild cattle known as an auroch. Prime examples include France’s Lascaux Cave, which was painted between 13,000 and 17,000 years ago. In Spain, the cave of Altamira features hundreds of images of bison, boars, and horses painted in distinctive red, brown, and black colors.
From about 13,000 to 11,000 years ago, the climate began to warm, bringing an end to the last ice age. As the temperatures climbed, mammoths became extinct and the herds of reindeer retreated north to follow the colder climate. With their environment altered and food supply disrupted, the Magdalenian struggled to adapt and eventually disappeared about 10,000 years ago. A Magdalenian artist seems to have illustrated this change in a carving of an auroch surrounded by the bright rays of the sun. The warmer climate eventually led to a gradual transition from a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle to more settled agricultural communities. Archaeologists often mark this shift as the end of the Paleolithic era and the beginning of the Mesolithic.
Bibliography
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