Azilian painted pebble,
Wikipedia. Public Domain.
It has long
been believed that the great Ice Age art of Europe disappeared with the decline
of the Magdalenian culture about 12,000 BCE. The following culture in that area
has been named the Azilian culture, and the main art practice associated with
Azilian has been decorated pebbles.
"The Azilian is a name given by
archaeologists to an industry of the Epipaleolithic in northern Spain and
southern France.
It probably dates to the period of -
around 12,000 years ago - and followed the Magdalenian culture. Archaeologists
think the Azilian represents the tail end of the Magdalenian as the warming
climate brought about changes in human behaviour in the area. The effects of
melting ice sheets would have diminished the food supply and probably
impoverished the previously well-fed Magdalenian manufacturers. As a result,
Azilian tools and art were cruder and less expansive than their Ice Age
predecessors - or simply different.
Diagnostic artifacts
from the culture include Azilian points (microliths with rounded retouched
backs), crude flat bone harpoons and pebbles with abstract decoration. The
latter were first found in the River Arize at the type-site for the culture, Le
Mas-d'Azil in the French Pyrenees." (Wikipedia)
Large
numbers of the painted pebbles mentioned above have been recovered from Azilian
sites, and this has long been assumed to represent their total artistic output.
"Azilian pebbles
carry simple designs coloured and/or decorated with paint made from red ochre
(iron peroxide), applied from the creator's fingers. Dots, borders and bands of
colour, zig-zags, ovals and dashes are featured. About 1400 pebbles like these
were found at Le Mas-d'Azil, southwestern France." (Wikipedia)
Engraved aurochs on schist plaque.
Azilian, Le Rocher del'Imperatrice,
France. Plos.org, Public Domain.
Drawing of aurochs on schist plaque.
Azilian, Le Rocher del'Imperatrice,
France. Plos.org, Public Domain.
A
recent publication online on Plosone
(Plos.org, March 3, 2017) by a team of French researchers led by Nicolas
Naudinot described a group of 45 schist placques recovered at Le Rocher
del'Imperatrice described sophisticated realistic engravings that open up a
whole new area of understanding of the art of this important period of history.
"The development
of the Azilian in Western Europe 14,000 years ago is considered a 'revolution'
in Upper Paleolithic Archaeology. One of the main elements of this rapid social
restructuring is the abandonment of naturalistic figurative art on portable
pieces or on cave walls in the Magdalenian in favor of abstract expression on
small pebbles.
Recent work shows that
the transformation of human societies between the Magdalenian and the Azilian
was more gradual. The discovery of a new Early Azilian site with decorated
stones in France supports this hypothesis. While major changes in stone tool
technology between the Magdalenian and Azilian clearly mark important adaptive
changes, the discovery of 45 engraved schist tablets from archaeological layers
at Le Rocher de l'Iperatrice attests to iconogaphic continuity together with
special valorization of aurochs as shown by a 'shining' bull depiction." (Naudinot 2017)
Realistic,
larger-scale depictions of aurochs and horses provide evidence that cultural
and religious beliefs had not totally abandoned the fascination in large
animals found in previous cultures, and suggest that the evolution of these
beliefs and mythology moved more slowly, lagging behind the evolution of tools
to fit the new conditions the people lived in.
Engraved aurochs on schist plaque.
Azilian, Le Rocher del'Imperatrice,
France. Plos.org, Public Domain.
Drawing of aurochs on schist plaque.
Azilian, Le Rocher del'Imperatrice,
France. Plos.org, Public Domain.
A
depiction on one schist plaque of an aurochs seems to be accentuated by an aura
or rays around its head. "One side
bears a special composition of a bull's head in left profile surrounded by deep
rays that create a highlighting visual effect. No equivalent 'shining animal'
could be found in the European Paleolithic iconography. The technological study
of this piece shows an intentional organization of gestures in order to point
up the central place of the aurochs. The rays were engraved after the animal.
But to place the aurochs at the forefront, the horns have been accentuated by a
new series of engraving in the same grooves, occurring in the areas where the
rays and the horns intersect." (Naudinot 2017)
This
type of symbolic representation may be later traced to the portrayal of halos
on holy images in medieval and renaissance art and may point to the origin of a
symbol utilized and understood down to the present. In other words, it is
possible that this represents the earliest known example of a symbol that has
lasted for ca. 14,000 years, an important discovery to be sure.
NOTE:
The images in this posting were retrieved from the Internet with a search for
Public Domain images. If they were used inappropriately and are not intended to
be Public Domain I apologize to the owner of the picture's rights. If this is
the case please inform me.
REFERENCES:
Naudinot,
et al,
2017 Divergence in the Evolution of Paleolithic Symbolic
and Technological Systems: the Shining Bull and Engraved tablets of Rocher de
L'Imperatrice,
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pome.0173037
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