From the Palaeolithic to the Mesolithic
The Paleolithic is the first and longest period of prehistory. It begins with the appearance of Man, about 2.6 million years ago in Africa and ends around 10,000 years before Christ.
The Paleolithic is the first and longest period of prehistory. It begins with the appearance of Man, about 2.6 million years ago in Africa and ends around 10,000 years before Christ. Humans were nomadic hunter-gatherers, taking advantage of the resources available in nature.
In Europe, the Paleolithic is divided into three sub-periods, corresponding to a biological, technical and cultural evolution.
In Europe, the Paleolithic is divided into three sub-periods, corresponding to a biological, technical and cultural evolution:
- the Lower Paleolithic (from -800,000 to -300,000 years), with Homo erectus. The first stone tools are the carved pebble and the biface. Domestication of fire around - 400 000 years.
- The Middle Paleolithic (from 300,000 to 40,000 years ago), with Neanderthal man.
The main stone tools are flakes, scrapers and points. First burials.
- The Upper Paleolithic (from 40,000 to 10,000 years ago) with Homo sapiens, also called "Cro-Magnon Man". The main stone tools are blades, scrapers and chisels. Appearance of bone and reindeer antler tools and weapons: assegais, harpoons, thrusters... First artistic manifestations.
We speak of cave art for the walls of the caves and furniture art for the objects.
The Paleolithic collections of the National Archaeology Museum are among the richest in the world, especially in the field of furniture art.
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Les objets
Statuette
The “Lady with the Hood”
Grotte du Pape, (Brassempouy, Landes) Around 28,000 BC.
The “Lady with the Hood” or “Dame de Brassempouy” is the most famous and most moving of prehistoric works of art, as she brings us the most real and lifelike image of Palaeolithic woman. The techniques used to make this statuette are very complex and achieve great visual qualities: incisions for the chequerboard pattern and the facial features, perforation for the pupil of the eyes, scraping and polishing to model the face. This “first human face”, sculpted from the ivory core of a mammoth tusk, is very striking. It is sub-triangular in shape and well balanced. The forehead, eyebrows, nose and chin are in relief. The only visible part of the eyes is the pupil, particularly the one on the right. Dame de Brassempouy à la capuche by Musée d'Archéologie Nationale on Sketchfab
Sculpture
La "Vénus" de Tursac
Abri du Facteur, Tursac (Dordogne)
Paléolithique supérieur, Gravettien, vers – 30 000 ans
Statuette
The Horse of Lourdes
The Espélugues Caves was much frequented. This small horse was discovered in 1886 in a fissure in the rock. Many other tools and decorated objects have also been discovered in this cave-shelter. This small statuette has been carved longitudinally from a mammoth’s tusk. Mammoths measured between 2.80 and 3.50 metres. Their upper incisors, developed into tusks, could reach 3 metres in length. To compensate for a lack of wood, prehistoric man in Eastern Europe used these bones as frames for their tents. Mammoths disappeared from Europe around 8,500 BC.
Sculpture
Un grand bâton percé gravé de chevaux
Tursac (Dordogne), abri de La Madeleine
Magdalénien récent (entre – 16 000 et – 14 000 ans environ)
Sculpture
Le bloc au « chasseur chassé » du Roc-de-Sers
Sers (Charente), abri du Roc-de-Sers
Solutréen (entre – 26 000 et – 23 000 ans environ)
Sculpture
La "chasse à l’aurochs" de La Vache
Alliat (Ariège), grotte de La Vache
Magdalénien final (vers – 13 000 ans)
Sculpture
Rondelle perforée
Le Mas d’Azil (Ariège), grotte du Mas d’Azil
Magdalénien moyen (entre – 18 000 et – 16 000 ans environ)
Sculpture
La "frise des lions" de la grotte de La Vache
Alliat (Ariège), grotte de La Vache
Magdalénien récent ou final (entre – 16 000 et – 13 000 ans environ)
Sculpture
The Hinds of Chaffaud
Upper Palaeolithic Period Grotte de Chaffaud, (Savigné, Vienne)
This piece is important in the context of Prehistory. In fact, it is the most ancient example of Palaeolithic mobiliary art to have been discovered (before 1845) and acknowledged as such, having earlier been attributed to the Gauls. Prosper Mérimée made the first tracing of it. Incised into a reindeer foot-bone, this engraving represents two hinds (the female of the stag, without antlers), one behind the other. The details of the heads of the two animals are very precise. The two ears, the almond-shaped left eye emphasised with fine hatching, the muzzle and the mouth give us an image of two very real hinds. In front of the hooves of each animal, a sign in the form of a wing is engraved, whose meaning is unknown.
Armes
Propulseur aux poissons des Espélugues
Grotte des Espélugues, Lourdes (Hautes-Pyrénées)
Magdalénien, entre – 18 000 ans et – 11 000 ans environ
crâne
Mégacéros
Irlande, tourbières, pas de site précis
Fin du Paléolithique (vers – 11 500 ans)
Outils
Le premier biface de Boucher de Perthes
Abbeville (Somme), Quartier Saint-Gilles
Acheuléen (entre – 600 000 et – 300 000 ans environ)
Instrument de musique
La grande flûte gravettienne d’Isturitz
Saint-Martin-d’Arberoue (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), grotte d’Isturitz
Gravettien (entre – 34 500 et – 25 000 ans environ)
Sculpture
Bâton percé de la grotte du placard
Vilhonneur (Charente), grotte du Placard
Magdalénien moyen (entre – 18 000 et – 16 000 ans environ)
Bloc sculpté
Le "sorcier" du Roc-aux-Sorciers
Angles-sur-l’Anglin (Vienne), abris du Roc-aux-Sorciers
Magdalénien moyen (entre – 18 000 et – 16 000 ans environ)
