In the caves of the Swabian Jura (Southwest Germany) excavators found numerous mammoth ivory remains, which date to the Aurignacian. Among them were at least 600 beads. These beads come from the well stratified layers of Hohle Fels cave in the Ach Valley, while others derive from the backdirt in front of the Vogelherd cave in the Lone Valley, which was completely emptied during the excavation 1931. We give an overview about the variety of forms of the personal ornaments, although the double perforated bead dominates the inventories. This special bead form gives evidence of identity formation of the Aurignacian people.
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Wolf S., Conard N.J., 2015 – Personal Ornaments of the Swabian Aurignacian, in White R., Bourrillon R. (eds.) with the collaboration of Bon F., Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe, Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University, P@lethnology, 7, 330-345.
Four cave sites in the Swabian Jura have yielded a spectacular array of portable art: Hohle Fels, Geißenklösterle, Vogelherd, and Hohlenstein-Stadel. Some of these ivory figurines are well known, and others less so. In all, about fifty such objects or fragments of objects are known from the region. They occur in the same archaeological levels where have been found musical instruments (flutes) and early examples of painting. Drawing on recent research as well as archival records from earlier excavations, this contribution chose a simple question-and-answer format in order to revisit issues of the interpretation of Aurignacian portable art objects, which constitute some of the earliest known representational artifacts in Europe, and perhaps the world. Subjects addressed include informations about raw materials, iconography, dating, context and the possible social foundations underlying the production and use of these objects.
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Floss H., 2015 – The Oldest Portable Art: the Aurignacian Ivory Figurines from the Swabian Jura (Southwest Germany), in White R., Bourrillon R. (eds.) with the collaboration of Bon F., Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe, Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University, P@lethnology, 7, 315-329.
The walls of the Chauvet-Pont d’Arc Cave are decorated with charcoal drawings dated to an average of 36000 cal BP, red paintings, engravings, and finger-traced designs, all grouped in distinct panels. Examination of the 14C dates, which are increasingly revealed to be of great antiquity, dating to the Early Aurignacian, allows for more precise modeling of human use of the cave. The attribution of certain components of the parietal art to the Gravettian, based on directly dated torch-marks on the walls and charcoal on the cave floors, remains secure. A survey of the techniques employed, organized around the three colors used (white, black, red), reveals formal diversity in the site, and at the same time confirms multiple points of convergence and commonality in terms of the themes and composition of the panels, which underline the homogeneity of the works as an ensemble. Ethology and the theme of cave lions on the hunt hold a central place in the inspiration of the artists at Chauvet; through their spectacular frescos, these artists have provided us a point of access to their symbolic vision of the world and an element of their myths.
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Fritz C., Tosello G., 2015 – From Gesture to Myth: Artists’ techniques on the walls of Chauvet Cave, in White R., Bourrillon R. (eds.) with the collaboration of Bon F., Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe, Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University, P@lethnology, 7, 280-314.
What was the purpose of the images conceived and produced by prehistoric groups? Our research into the animation of these images leads us to propose a new method of analysis that shows their primary function to be narrative. The identification of mechanisms for graphic narration can help to decipher the exact content conveyed by these messages beginning as early as the Aurignacian. The main images from two parietal art caves from this period, Chauvet-Pont d’Arc and Baume Latrone in the South of France, provide a remarkable example of the different animation processes and sequencing underlying these first Aurignacian stories.
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Azéma M., 2015 – Animation and Graphic Narration in the Aurignacian, in White R., Bourrillon R. (eds.) with the collaboration of Bon F., Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe, Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University, P@lethnology, 7, 256-279.
Recent discoveries over the past years have confirmed the existence of figurative art from the very beginning of the Upper Paleolithic. Researchers have focused on the identification of this phenomenon in some regions (Dordogne, Ardeche or Swabian Jura), whereas in others, such as the Iberian Peninsula, have been somewhat neglected. After a thorough analysis of the Iberian artistic record, we are now in a position to characterize the early stages of figurative art (both portable and rock art), which was mainly concentrated in the northern region of the Iberian Peninsula. This concentration corresponds to the dense distribution of archaeological sites attributed to the Aurignacian culture. Although the existing literature is at times incomplete or somewhat inconclusive, we consider an attribution to Aurignacian art to be possible in certain cases.
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Garate D., Rivero O., Rios-Garaizar J., 2015 – Evaluating Aurignacian Art in Iberia… if it Really Exists, in White R., Bourrillon R. (eds.) with the collaboration of Bon F., Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe, Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University, P@lethnology, 7, 236-255.
What symbolic traditions can be defined at the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic? Can we characterize specific Aurignacian, Gravettian or Solutrean approaches? This thematic-stylistic analysis applied to a sample of 2 000 representations in nearly 110 caves provides some partial answers to these questions and reveals continuity in the “artistic traditions” of early Upper Paleolithic groups. Other observations show the complexity of artistic representations through time-bound and location-bound “traditions” and speak to the plurality of symbolic behavior in prehistoric societies.
We highlight a decrease in the diversity of stylistic resources used by Paleolithic groups throughout the Upper Paleolithic. Graphic standards imposed by the group tend to become more rigid, limiting the scope of the prehistoric artist and leading to a set repertoire of certain formal graphic representations. Due to this decrease in the “freedom” of iconographic codes, which become increasingly standardized, the role of the Paleolithic artist in society is reconsidered and appears to reflect social changes.
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Petrognani S., 2015 – Early Upper Paleolithic Parietal Art: Shared Characteristics and Different Symbolic Traditions, in White R., Bourrillon R. (eds.) with the collaboration of Bon F., Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe, Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University, P@lethnology, 7, 221-235.
The need for an accurate chronological framework is particularly important for the early phases of the Upper Paleolithic, which correspond to the first works of art attributed to Aurignacian groups. Carbon-14 is the only method used for the direct dating of organic pigments, but indirect methods are used to date subsequent deposits on rock art (thermoluminescence, OSL, Uranium/thorium, etc.). All these methods are based on hypotheses and present interpretative difficulties, which form the basis of the discussion presented in this article.
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Sauvet G., 2015 – In Search of Lost Time. Dating Methods for Prehistoric Art: the Example of Aurignacian Sites, in White R., Bourrillon R. (eds.) with the collaboration of Bon F., Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe, Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University, P@lethnology, 7, 206-220.
In this article, we propose a critical analysis of the available information relating to the first evidence of marine resource consumption in European Pleistocene sites, with particular focus on the existing data for the Mousterian and the Aurignacian. This review concentrates on different aspects, such as the identification and quantification of remains, as well as taphonomic characteristics. In spite of the rarity of the available remains, we consider that mollusks, mammals, crustaceans, echinoderms, fish and birds play a secondary role in the diet of both Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans.
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Álvarez-Fernández E., 2015 – Marine Resource Exploitation during the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic in Europe: Overview of the Available Evidence, in White R., Bourrillon R. (eds.) with the collaboration of Bon F., Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe, Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University, P@lethnology, 7, 188-205.
Since the second half of the 19th century, Southern Burgundy has constituted one of the most important regions of Early Upper Paleolithic research in France, but with a remarkable discontinuity in research after the 1950s and considerable emphasis on the site of Solutré. Beginning in the middle of the 1990s, a research team from Tübingen University directed by H. Floss has been investigating this area, building on a tradition of research started by A. Arcelin and H. Breuil and carried on by J. Combier and H. Delporte. In spite of the long history of research in this region, it is clear that more detailed information in the form of absolute dates, chronostratigraphic studies, and technological reassessments of the Aurignacian industries is required. The Tübingen research team and researchers from several French institutions are filling gaps in current knowledge through ongoing excavation, survey, and collections analysis as part of a Projet Collectif de Recherche on the Early Upper Paleolithic in the region. The present article summarizes the existing information available on the Early Aurignacian of Southern Burgundy as concretely as possible. Of particular significance are the sites of Solutré and Grotte de la Verpillière in Germolles. Some new open-air sites have also been recently discovered, e.g. at Germolles-en-Roche, Uchizy and Charnay-lès-Mâcon. This article provides an overview of our initial insights into the technological characteristics of the lithic and osseous industries.
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Floss H., Hoyer C. T., Heckel C. E., Tartar É., 2015 – The Aurignacian in Southern Burgundy, in White R., Bourrillon R. (eds.) with the collaboration of Bon F., Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe, Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University, P@lethnology, 7, 165-187.
Recent excavations at Isturitz Cave by Christian Normand have yielded a rich assemblage of Aurignacian personal ornaments in chronostratigraphic context. Here, we present the first study of this corpus, focusing on the techniques used for perforating teeth; the chronological variation in the selection of animal teeth (and one human tooth); the raw materials used for the beads and pendants (amber, ivory, talc, bone); data concerning local personal ornament production (or not); the exploitation of amber and its provenance; and the existence of abundant personal ornaments (pendant-anthropomorphic sculpture and shells) in the Archaic Aurignacian levels.
The stratigraphic sequence from Isturitz allows us to demonstrate the chronological evolution of personal ornaments during the course of the Aurignacian in Aquitaine, as well their intra-regional variability. We conclude that this chronological and intra-regional variation considerably complicates the recent hypothesis of regionalized personal ornaments, representing ethnic entities that last for more than ten thousand years.
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White R., Normand C., 2015 – Early and Archaic Aurignacian Personal Ornaments from Isturitz Cave: Technological and Regional Perspectives, in White R., Bourrillon R. (eds.) with the collaboration of Bon F., Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe, Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University, P@lethnology, 7, 138-164.
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