A 36,200-year-old carving from Grotte des Gorges, Amange, Jura, France
Abstract The earliest European carvings, made of mammoth ivory, depict animals, humans, and anthropomorphs. They are found at Early Aurignacian sites of the Swabian Jura in Germany. Despite the wide geographical spread of the Aurignacian across Europe, these carvings have no contemporaneous counterp...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-39897-7 |
| _version_ | 1797560293831737344 |
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| author | Francesco d’Errico Serge David Hélène Coqueugniot Christian Meister Ewa Dutkiewicz Romain Pigeaud Luca Sitzia Didier Cailhol Mathieu Bosq Christophe Griggo Jehanne Affolter Alain Queffelec Luc Doyon |
| author_facet | Francesco d’Errico Serge David Hélène Coqueugniot Christian Meister Ewa Dutkiewicz Romain Pigeaud Luca Sitzia Didier Cailhol Mathieu Bosq Christophe Griggo Jehanne Affolter Alain Queffelec Luc Doyon |
| author_sort | Francesco d’Errico |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The earliest European carvings, made of mammoth ivory, depict animals, humans, and anthropomorphs. They are found at Early Aurignacian sites of the Swabian Jura in Germany. Despite the wide geographical spread of the Aurignacian across Europe, these carvings have no contemporaneous counterparts. Here, we document a small, intriguing object, that sheds light on this uniqueness. Found at the Grotte des Gorges (Jura, France), in a layer sandwiched between Aurignacian contexts and dated to c. 36.2 ka, the object bears traces of anthropogenic modifications indicating intentional carving. Microtomographic, microscopic, three-dimensional roughness and residues analyses reveal the carving is a fragment of a large ammonite, which was modified to represent a caniformia head decorated with notches and probably transported for long time in a container stained with ochre. While achieving Swabian Jura-like miniaturization, the Grotte des Gorges specimen displays original features, indicating the craftsman emulated ivory carvings while introducing significant technical, thematic, and stylistic innovations. This finding suggests a low degree of cultural connectivity between Early Aurignacian hunter-gatherer groups in the production of their symbolic material culture. The pattern conforms to the existence of cultural boundaries limiting the transmission of symbolic practices while leaving space for the emergence of original regional expressions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:58:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e8544ed103234704a08712a87c665870 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:58:34Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-e8544ed103234704a08712a87c6658702023-11-20T09:08:25ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222023-08-0113111210.1038/s41598-023-39897-7A 36,200-year-old carving from Grotte des Gorges, Amange, Jura, FranceFrancesco d’Errico0Serge David1Hélène Coqueugniot2Christian Meister3Ewa Dutkiewicz4Romain Pigeaud5Luca Sitzia6Didier Cailhol7Mathieu Bosq8Christophe Griggo9Jehanne Affolter10Alain Queffelec11Luc Doyon12CNRS, MCC, PACEA, UMR5199, Université de BordeauxCentre Jurassien du PatrimoineCNRS, MCC, PACEA, UMR5199, Université de BordeauxGeology and Paleontology Department, Natural History Museum of GenevaStaatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum für Vor- und FrühgeschichteCReAAH, UMR6566, CNRS, Université de Rennes-1Departamento de Antropología, Universidad de TarapacáCNRS, TRACES, UMR5608, Université Toulouse Jean-JaurèsCNRS, MCC, PACEA, UMR5199, Université de BordeauxCNRS, EDYTEM, UMR5204, Université Grenoble AlpesAr-Geo-LabCNRS, MCC, PACEA, UMR5199, Université de BordeauxCNRS, MCC, PACEA, UMR5199, Université de BordeauxAbstract The earliest European carvings, made of mammoth ivory, depict animals, humans, and anthropomorphs. They are found at Early Aurignacian sites of the Swabian Jura in Germany. Despite the wide geographical spread of the Aurignacian across Europe, these carvings have no contemporaneous counterparts. Here, we document a small, intriguing object, that sheds light on this uniqueness. Found at the Grotte des Gorges (Jura, France), in a layer sandwiched between Aurignacian contexts and dated to c. 36.2 ka, the object bears traces of anthropogenic modifications indicating intentional carving. Microtomographic, microscopic, three-dimensional roughness and residues analyses reveal the carving is a fragment of a large ammonite, which was modified to represent a caniformia head decorated with notches and probably transported for long time in a container stained with ochre. While achieving Swabian Jura-like miniaturization, the Grotte des Gorges specimen displays original features, indicating the craftsman emulated ivory carvings while introducing significant technical, thematic, and stylistic innovations. This finding suggests a low degree of cultural connectivity between Early Aurignacian hunter-gatherer groups in the production of their symbolic material culture. The pattern conforms to the existence of cultural boundaries limiting the transmission of symbolic practices while leaving space for the emergence of original regional expressions.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-39897-7 |
| spellingShingle | Francesco d’Errico Serge David Hélène Coqueugniot Christian Meister Ewa Dutkiewicz Romain Pigeaud Luca Sitzia Didier Cailhol Mathieu Bosq Christophe Griggo Jehanne Affolter Alain Queffelec Luc Doyon A 36,200-year-old carving from Grotte des Gorges, Amange, Jura, France Scientific Reports |
| title | A 36,200-year-old carving from Grotte des Gorges, Amange, Jura, France |
| title_full | A 36,200-year-old carving from Grotte des Gorges, Amange, Jura, France |
| title_fullStr | A 36,200-year-old carving from Grotte des Gorges, Amange, Jura, France |
| title_full_unstemmed | A 36,200-year-old carving from Grotte des Gorges, Amange, Jura, France |
| title_short | A 36,200-year-old carving from Grotte des Gorges, Amange, Jura, France |
| title_sort | 36 200 year old carving from grotte des gorges amange jura france |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-39897-7 |
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