On 20 April 2019, I wrote a column in RockArtBlog titled “Prehistoric Animation – Paleolithic Thaumatropes?” It discussed one possible purpose for the myriad of Magdalenian bone discs that have been recovered in Europe. At that time I had not seen a paper from a team headed by Andy Needham (January 2019) of the University of York in the U.K. that had decided that these artifacts were most likely spindle whorls.
“Enigmatic circular discs, referred to as ‘rondelles’ are primarily associated with the Magdalenian, a late Upper Paleolithic period dating to between 20,500 - 13,000 Cal. BP and focused around northwest Europe. Spatially, the Magdalenian is especially associated with Spain and France, regions that were used as refugia during the Last Glacial Maximun (LGM) and from where the culture emerged. However, sites are also reported as far west as Portugal and north as the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium and as far east as Poland. Rondelles are especially temporally concentrated between 14,000 – 13,000 BP, while spatially they are found across much of the Magdalenian range, but in particular southern France and northern Spain around the Pyrenees, as well as to the north and east in Germany and Poland, with clear gaps in the northwest, especially the UK.” (Needham et al. 2019) So, this is likely to have been a Magdalenian cultural phenomenon.
“Various theories have been put forward as to their use, including clothing decoration and large buttons. These are unlikely primary uses, since all have just one, central hole. If they were meant to be sewn to clothing they would have two or more holes to facilitate attachment, or would have the hole close to one edge if they were meant to be worn as a pendant. As my colleague Ann Dayton first pointed out, (pers. Comm.) December 2014) their most likely use is as the weight (normally called a whorl) for a drop spindle in the spinning of fibers into yarn. This is borne out by the fact that the overwhelming majority have a central hole, all of similar dimensions, 2 to 4 mm, and by the fact that many are not decorated in any meaningful or artistic way, and are also made of other materials (sandstone, slate) than bone. The most likely use for these objects is as spindle whorls.” (Hitchcock 2015) This is obviously a reasonable proposal for the single-hole discs that have a large enough hole to insert a spindle shaft through.
“The results from the function experiments testing use of rondelles as spindle whorls certainly suggest these objects were capable of spinning a length of sheep wool into yarn, although not dog fur. Given that the whorls rotate centrally around an axis, it is important to their function that they sustain a rotation for a period of time which requires symmetry in the rondelle shape. This ability, to stay in rotation around the axis, is a function of the mass and the distance of the rondelle from the axis, also known as the mass moment of inertia. This, to prevent oscillation, the whorl needs to possess symmetry, both centrally and in its diameter, which makes these variables crucial in the production method. Maintaining symmetry can be difficult to attain where the material is naturally uneven across the surface such as bone.” (Needham et al. 2019) While I am not a weaver or spinner, it does seem that a yarn or thread spindle would need to rotate fairly smoothly, and a out-of-true whorl (not evenly weighted on all sides) would wobble.
“This suggests that knowledge of spindle whorl function, the identification of the crucial technical requirements and the skill to produce the whorl is more important than any one particular production method. Further investigations could utilize different materials such as stone, in order to increase the mass of the rondelle.” (Needham et al. 2019) Up to this point Needham et al. (2019) seems to be arguing that these discs are spindle whorls the next quotation appears to moderate that argument somewhat.
“Whilst a broad array of functions has been previously proposed for rondelles, our experiments were limited to exploring just two. Previous research has made a strong case for rondelles functioning as thaumatropes; results from our research support this theory, with carved figures taking on an animated appearance when rondelles were strung and spun. However, rondelles can serve as functional spindle whorls, and thus their utility in spinning fibers cannot be ruled out as possible function.” (Needham et al. 2019) Very clever, let’s just combine the possibilities into one single proposal.
“Demeshenko (2006) argued that the presence of weaving tools at particular locations in Upper Palaeolithic sites on the Russian Plain indicated specific activity areas related to weaving. Imprints on clay, carvings on figurines and these tools constitute the first physical evidence of weaving. The early evidence for the utilization of plants for basketry is known from Israel (23000BP). Although plants were used most probably for making cord and probably nets, there is, however, so far no tangible record indicating textile production (Nadel et al. 1994). It is important to remember that the cold environment of the tundra in which textile production first appeared, rather than the warm climate of the Mediterranean or the Caucuses, does not necessarily mean that it was linked with clothing, since animal skins and fur unarguably provided the best protection against the cold.” (Janik and Bates 2012) There is no need for a spindle whorl in the creation of mats and basketry, and the most common means of producing cordage involves rolling the fibers on the thigh, not spindling.
Although it is difficult to see how a one-holed disc would have functioned as a thaumatripe (how would you attach the cord to rotate it?), many examples with complementary designs on the two sides certainly would have worked well in this role. Two-holed or multi-holed discs certainly would not hav functioned in the capacity of a spindle whorl, and many one-holed examples have a central hole so small that it is hard to see any kind of substantial shaft fitting through it to use as a whorl. One-holed discs with a small central hole may have had a small stick projecting through it and functioned as a spinning top. Not all are symmetrically balanced either. Finally, I have seen no report of Magdalenian fabrics associated with rondelles, although a nuber of the Magdalenian "Venus" figures have indications of textures that some interpret as fabric.
We know that most indigenous cultures produced cordage, usually from plant fibers, but the overwhelming number of examples I have seen have the maker rolling the plant materials on their thigh with one hand while holding one end firm with the other hand to twist them. All in all, I do not think we have any one overall solution to the question of these Paleolithic discs. Perhaps they were intended for a number of different uses. For now I am going to go with the idea that they were intended as spinning tops for the kids to play with. At least that is not controversial.
NOTE 1: Some images in this
posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain
photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I
apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will
contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read
the original reports at the sites listed below.
NOTE 2: For the sake of space I
have omitted citations in the quotations above. For that information I refer
you to the original publications referenced below.
NOTE 3: A very comprehensive presentation of rondelles may be found at Don’s Maps “Discs From The Stone Age” (https://donsmaps.com/discs.html).
PRIMARY REFERENCES:
Faris, Peter, 2019, Prehistoric Animation – Paleolithic Thaumatropes?, 20 April 2019, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com.
Janik, Lila, and Jennifer Bates, 2012, The Origins of Weaving Project, copyright 2012, first published 2015, https://www.arch.cam.ac.uk. Accessed online 15 March 2024.
Hitchcock, Don, and Ann Dayton, 2015, Discs from the Stone Age, https://donsmaps.com/discs.html. Accessed online 8 January 2024.
Needham, Andy et al., 2019, Spinning in Circles: The Production and Function of Upper Palaeolithic Rondelles, Exarc Journal, Vol. 2019, Issue 3. Accessed online 12 January 2024.
SECONDARY REFERENCES: (cited in Janik and Bates)
Demeshenko, S. A., 2006, Osobennosti ukrashehij Kostenkovsko-Avdeevskoj kultury, Rossijskaya Arheologiya 1:5-16
Nadel, A. D., Werker, E., Schick,
T., Kislev, M. E. and Stewart, K.,
1994, 19,000 years-old twisted fibers
from Ohalo II, Current Anthropology 35, 4:451-458.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment