An exhibition organised by the Rmn-Grand Palais and the Musée national de Préhistoire des Eyzies-de-Tayac, in scientific collaboration with the National Archaeology Museum in Warsaw and the Landesmuseum in Mainz.
More than twelve thousand years ago, an improvement in the climate brought groups of Magdalenian hunters and gatherers to Europe. Similarities in lifestyle, tools and symbolic expression as seen in schematic female figures, scattered over thousands of kilometres from southwest France to Poland, suggest real cultural homogeneity. This exhibition brings together tools, weapons and about sixty major works of prehistoric art in ivory, antler, flint and other materials from major sites, including Wylcyze in Poland, Gönnersdorf and Andernach in Germany, various prehistoric sites in Dordogne as well as numerous examples of rock art from caves in southwest France.
Magdalenian: A Widespread Culture?
The last great culture of the Upper Palaeolithic, the Magdalenian spread across Europe between 17000 and 10 000 BC. Bone and stone industries were only one aspect of this culture which brought mankind to the beginning of the modern age. The name “Magdalenian” refers to tools found in a rock shelter in La Madeleine in Tursac, in Dordogne, discovered in 1863 and now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Magdalenian culture is found in much of Europe: southern England, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany and Poland. Archaeologists can now identify sets of practices concerning techniques, habitat, hunting methods and symbols. But it is still difficult to grasp social rules, languages and the exact content of the mythologies which probably cemented each set together. It is therefore impossible to say that there was only a single culture during the 7000 years of the Magdalenian era extending from Portugal to Poland.
The Unity and Diversity of Techniques and Supports
Magdalenian culture is impressive because of the unmatched profusion and diversity of its stone tools which indicate a very rich material culture. Antlers, bone and ivory were also found throughout the area and used for various instruments: spears, harpoons, spear throwers, pierced sticks… But the skill of the Magdalenians is particularly evident in their masterly art work, in the details, proportions and the impression of movement. All techniques are used: engraving, sculpture, drawing, painting and even clay modelling. Rock art was found in the great sanctuaries (Font-de-Gaume, Les Combarelles, Rouffignac…) as well as in smaller caves.
The Female Figure in Magdalenian Art
The period of schematic female figures seems to correspond to the maximum extension of the population groups in the Upper Magdalenian as the glaciers withdrew and definitively freed land. But forests also spread and complicated the supply lines during the Magdalenian period. Changes occurred in graphic traditions. The hyper realism of the animals on some sites was counterbalanced by schematic or distorted bodies in others. Animals appeared in all forms in the Upper Magdalenian, sometimes reduced to a symbol or a sign (frontal views), and the same was true of the female body.
The Woman-Symbol
Female figures are found on all types of support. Strong thematic and stylistic affinities can be perceived, sometimes confined to a single valley, sometimes on a much wider scale. They may be concentrated in key sites or scattered over a larger area. But the relationships between these female figures are spectacular; they cannot be dismissed as mere scribbles because similar profiles were engraved in caves.
Curators:
Norbert Aujoulat, curator, Rock Art department, Centre national de Préhistoire, Périgueux †
Jean-Jacques Cleyet-Merle, general curator, Musée national de Préhistoire, Les Eyzies-de-Tayac
Peggy Bonnet-Jacquement, research technician, Musée national de Préhistoire, Les Eyzies-de-Tayac
Scientific committee:
Norbert Aujoulat, curator, Rock Art department, Centre national de Préhistoire, Périgueux †
Pr. Gerhard Bosinski, honorary professor
Valérie Féruglio, UMR Archéologies et Sciences de l’Antiquité (ArScAn), Paris
Andrzej Jacek Tomaszewski, curator, Warsaw Archaeology Museum
Open:
every day except Tuesdays, from October to May: 9:30–12:30 a.m. and 2–5:30 p.m. June and September: 9:30 – 6 p.m. (closed on Tuesdays). July and August: every day 9:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Address
Musée national de Préhistoire
1, rue du musée
24620 Les Eyzies-de-Tayac
Tél : 05 53 06 45 45
Access:
By road: D47 Périgueux-Sarlat. By motorway A20, exit Souillac, direction Sarlat. By motorway A89 exit Saint-Laurent-sur-Manoire. By rail: SNCF Paris-Limoges-Périgueux-Agen.
Rates:
7 €, concession: 5.50 €, groups: 6 €, free for visitors under 26 (EU nationals or long-term EU residents) and for all visitors on the first Sunday of the month.
Publication:
exhibition catalogue, 22 x 28 cm, 144 pages,150 colour illustrations, paperback, approximately 35 €, éditions de la Rmn et du Grand Palais, Paris (2011), on sale in all bookstores
