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 Distribution of Magdalenian sites in Europe (pink) along with those of theEpigravettian (red). Distribution of the Magdalenian in southern Britain not shown | |
| Geographical range | Western Europe |
|---|---|
| Period | Upper Paleolithic Mesolithic |
| Dates | c. 17,000 – c. 12,000 BP[a] |
| Type site | Abri de la Madeleine |
| Major sites | Cave of Altamira,Kents Cavern,Lascaux |
| Preceded by | Solutrean |
| Followed by | Azilian,Ahrensburg culture |
Magdalenian cultures (alsoMadelenian;French:Magdalénien) are latercultures of theUpper Paleolithic andMesolithic inwestern Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000years before present.[a] It is named after thetype site ofAbri de la Madeleine, arock shelter (abri) located in the Vézère valley ofTursac inDordogne, France.
Édouard Lartet andHenry Christy originally termed the periodL'âge du renne "the age of the reindeer". They conducted the firstarchaeological excavation of the type site, publishing in 1875. The Magdalenian is associated withreindeer hunters. Magdalenian sites contain extensive evidence for the hunting ofred deer,wild horses, and othermegafauna present inEurope toward the end of theLast Glacial Period. The culture was geographically widespread, and later Magdalenian sites stretched fromPortugal in the west to Poland in the east, and as far north asFrance, theChannel Islands,England, andWales. Besides la Madeleine, the chief stations of the Magdalenian areLes Eyzies,Laugerie-Basse, andGorges d'Enfer in theDordogne;Grotte du Placard inCharente and others inSouthwest France.
Magdalenian peoples produced a wide variety of art, including figurines and cave paintings. Evidence has been found suggesting that Magdalenian peoples regularly engaged in (probably ritualistic)cannibalism along with producingskull cups.
Genetic studies indicate that the Magdalenian peoples were descended mainly from earlier Western EuropeanCro-Magnon groups like theGravettians present in Western Europe over 30,000 years ago before theLast Glacial Maximum (LGM), who had retreated to southwestern Europe during the LGM. Madgalenian peoples were largely replaced peoples belonging to theEpigravettian-associatedWestern Hunter Gatherer (WHG) genetic cluster at the end of the Pleistocene, though in the Iberian Peninsula early Holocene hunter-gatherers retained significant Madgalenian-related ancesty.
The Magdalenian is represented by numerous sites, whose contents show progress in arts and culture. It was characterized by a cold and dry climate, humans in association with the reindeer, and the extinction of themammoth. The use of bone and ivory as implements, begun in the precedingSolutrean, increased, making the period essentially a bone period. Bone instruments are quite varied: spear-points,harpoon-heads, borers, hooks and needles.[citation needed]
The fauna of the Magdalenian seems to have includedcave lions,[3] reindeer,arctic foxes,arctic hares, and other cold weather specialists.[4] Magdalenian humans appear to have been of short stature,dolichocephalic, with a low retreating forehead and prominentbrow ridges.[citation needed]
The culture spans from approximately 17,000 to 12,000BP, toward the end of the most recentice age. Magdalenian tool culture is characterised by regularblade industries struck fromcarinated cores.
The Magdalenian is divided into six phases generally agreed to have chronological significance (Magdalenian I through VI, I being the earliest and VI being the latest). The earliest phases are recognised by the varying proportion of blades and specific varieties of scrapers, the middle phases marked by the emergence of a microlithic component (particularly the distinctivedenticulatedmicroliths), and the later phases by the presence of uniserial (phase 5) and biserial 'harpoons' (phase 6) made of bone, antler and ivory.[5]
Debate continues about the nature of the earliest Magdalenian assemblages, and it remains questionable whether the Badegoulian culture is the earliest phase of Magdalenian culture. Similarly, finds from the forest of Beauregard near Paris have been suggested as belonging to the earliest Magdalenian.[7] The earliest Magdalenian sites are in France. TheEpigravettian is a similar culture appearing at the same time. Its known range extends from southeast France to the western shores of theVolga River, Russia, with many sites in Italy.
The later phases of Magdalenian culture are contemporaneous with the human re-settlement of north-western Europe after theLast Glacial Maximum during theLate Glacial Maximum.[8][9] As hunter gatherers, Magdalenians did not re-settle permanently in northwest Europe, instead following herds and seasons.
By the end of the Magdalenian, lithic technology shows a pronounced trend toward increased microlithisation. The bone harpoons and points have the most distinctive chronological markers within the typological sequence. As well as flint tools, Magdalenians are known for their elaborate worked bone, antler andivory that served both functional and aesthetic purposes, includingperforated batons.
The sea shells and fossils found in Magdalenian sites may be sourced to relatively precise areas and have been used to support hypotheses of Magdalenian hunter-gatherer seasonal ranges, and perhaps trade routes.
In northern Spain and south-west France this tool culture was superseded by theAzilian culture. In northern Europe it was followed by variants of theTjongerian techno-complex. It has been suggested that key Late-glacial sites in south-western Britain may be attributed to Magdalenian culture, includingKent's Cavern.
Bones, reindeer antlers and animal teeth display pictures carved or etched on them of seals, fish, reindeer, mammoths and other creatures.
The best of Magdalenian artworks are a mammoth engraved on a fragment of its own ivory;[dubious –discuss] a dagger of reindeer antler, with a handle in the form of a reindeer; a cave-bear cut on a flat piece ofschist; a seal on a bear's tooth; a fish drawn on a reindeer antler; and a complete picture, also on reindeer antler, showing horses, anaurochs, trees, and a snake biting a man's leg. The man is naked, which, together with the snake, suggests a warm climate in spite of the presence of the reindeer.
In theTuc d'Audoubert cave, an 18-inch clay statue of two bison sculpted in relief was discovered in the deepest room, now known as the Room of the Bisons.[10]
Examples of Magdalenian portable art include batons,figurines, and intricately engraved projectile points, as well as items of personal adornment including sea shells, perforatedcarnivore teeth (presumably necklaces), and fossils.
Cave sites such asLascaux contain the best known examples of Magdaleniancave art. The site ofAltamira in Spain, with its extensive and varied forms of Magdalenianmobiliary art has been suggested to be an agglomeration site where groups of Magdalenian hunter-gatherers congregated.[11]
Some skulls were cleaned of soft tissues, then had the facial regions removed, with the remainingbrain case retouched, possibly to make the broken edges more regular. This manipulation suggests the shaping of skulls to produceskull cups.[12] Finds of defleshed (as evidenced by cut marks) and cracked bones with human chewing marks atGough's Cave, England suggests that the Magdalenian peoples there engaged incannibalism.[13] Cannibalism has been suggested at a dozen other Magadelian sites across the culture's geographic range, representing 25% of all Magdalenian sites, far more than any other European Paleolithic culture.[14] It has been suggested that Magdalenian peoples practiced a form offunerary endocannibalism, where upon the death of a member of the community, they were ritually dismembered and consumed by other members of the group, with their skulls being used to create skull cups.[13][14] At other Magdalenian sites primary burial with no evidence of cannibalism is observed, with a handful of sites showing alternating evidence of cannibalism and primary burial at different occupation layers. At sites with primary burial, genetic analysis of these individuals indicate that they are more closely related to the people of theEpigravettian culture/Villabruna cluster than to the Magdalenians that practiced cannibalism (who belong to the GoyetQ2 cluster).[14]
The genes of seven Magdalenians, theEl Miron Cluster in Iberia, have shown close relationship to a population who had lived in Northern Europe some 20,000 years previously. The analyses suggested that 70-80% of the ancestry of these individuals was from the population represented by Goyet Q116-1, associated with theAurignacian culture of about 35,000 BP, from theGoyet Caves in modern Belgium.[15] It has been found that Magdalenians are closely related toSolutreans.[16] It has also been found that Magdalenians are closely related to westernGravettians who inhabited France and Spain prior to the Last Glacial Maximum.[17] The 15,000 year old GoyetQ2 individual from Goyet Caves is often used as a proxy for Magdalenian ancestry.[17] Analysis of genomes of GoyetQ2-related Magdalenians suggest that like earlier Cro-Magnon groups, they probably had a relatively dark skin tone compared to modern Europeans.[16] A 2023 study proposed that relative to earlier Western European Cro-Magnon related groups like Goyet Q116-1-related Aurignacian and the Western Gravettian associated Fournol cluster, the Goyet-Q2-related Magdalenians appear to have carried significant (~30% ancestry) from theVillabruna cluster (thought to be of southeastern European origin, and sharing affinities to West Asian peoples not found in earlier European hunter-gatherers) associated with theEpigravettian.[17]
The three samples ofY-DNA included two samples of haplogroupI and one sample ofHIJK. All samples ofmtDNA belonged toU, including five samples ofU8b and one sample ofU5b.
Around 14-12,000 years ago, theWestern Hunter-Gatherer cluster (which predominantly descended from the Villabruna cluster, with possible ancestry related to the Goyet-Q2 cluster[17]), expanded northwards across the Alps, largely replacing the Goyet-Q2 cluster associated Magdalenian groups in Western Europe.[18][16][19] In France and Spain, significant GoyetQ2-related ancestry persisted into theMesolithic andNeolithic, with some Neolithic individuals in France and Spain largely ofEarly European Farmer descent showing significant GoyetQ2 ancestry.[17][20]
_to_Villabruna_(orange)_genetic_types_in_European_sites%2c_according_to_timeline_and_climate_evolution.jpg)
| Preceded by | Magdalenian 17,000–9,000 BP | Succeeded by |
| ThePaleolithic |
|---|
| ↑Pliocene (beforeHomo) |
|
|
| ↓Mesolithic |
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Madelenian".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 283–284.
