Major Magdalenian art sites. La Madeleine and Laugerie-Basse 15,000 years ago.
NMR| N° d'inventaire | 18493 |
| Format | 22 x 28 |
| Détails | 127 p., color illustrations, paperback. |
| Publication | Paris, 2014 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | |
Fifteen thousand years ago, the Magdalenians—whose name comes from the eponymous site of La Madeleine—developed the most brilliant culture of the hunter-gatherer populations of the late Upper Paleolithic, whose influence extended from the Atlantic to Poland. Some even consider it to be the first true civilization of Europe. Rich in abundant and diverse material production, testifying to an exceptional symbolic expression in both parietal and portable art, the Magdalenian culture would come to a rather abrupt end with the appearance of the temperate climatic conditions we know today. Two major sites, La Madeleine and Laugerie-Basse, have yielded pieces of portable art that testify to this cultural plenitude. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the excavations that led to these discoveries, the National Museum of Prehistory in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac and the Museum of Art and Archaeology of Périgord have brought together many of the masterpieces of this art. Mainly animal-themed, the statuettes, spear throwers, perforated sticks, and simple supports are wonderfully engraved or sculpted. This perspective also led the authors of this catalog to question the nature and function of these great sites. Was it really a society of abundance where Man could give free rein to his artistic impulses? The prodigality and magnificence of Magdalenian portable art could well, on the contrary, reflect a situation of crisis: Man would then have, thanks to them, transcended his material difficulties.
Fifteen thousand years ago, the Magdalenians—whose name comes from the eponymous site of La Madeleine—developed the most brilliant culture of the hunter-gatherer populations of the late Upper Paleolithic, whose influence extended from the Atlantic to Poland. Some even consider it to be the first true civilization of Europe. Rich in abundant and diverse material production, testifying to an exceptional symbolic expression in both parietal and portable art, the Magdalenian culture would come to a rather abrupt end with the appearance of the temperate climatic conditions we know today. Two major sites, La Madeleine and Laugerie-Basse, have yielded pieces of portable art that testify to this cultural plenitude. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the excavations that led to these discoveries, the National Museum of Prehistory in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac and the Museum of Art and Archaeology of Périgord have brought together many of the masterpieces of this art. Mainly animal-themed, the statuettes, spear throwers, perforated sticks, and simple supports are wonderfully engraved or sculpted. This perspective also led the authors of this catalog to question the nature and function of these great sites. Was it really a society of abundance where Man could give free rein to his artistic impulses? The prodigality and magnificence of Magdalenian portable art could well, on the contrary, reflect a situation of crisis: Man would then have, thanks to them, transcended his material difficulties.