A Newly Discovered Female Engraving from Courbet (Penne-Tarn), France

Abstract

An Upper Palaeolithic engraving of a female figure has recently been discovered on the base of a naturally hollowed limestone slab possibly used as a bowl or lamp, found in the cave of Courbet (Penne-Tarn, France) and preserved in the British Museum. The slab, decorated on the dished side with linear incisions, and the female figure are described in detail. The occurrence of a female engraving on a utilised slab is found to be unique to date but the relationship of the figure to the support is questioned and discussed. The female engraving is compared with others known from Germany, as well as Quercy and Perigord, France. On the basis of these comparisons and radiocarbon age estimates, the engraved slab is attributed to Magdalenian VI.

A Newly Discovered Horse Engraving from La Madeleine (Dordogne), France

“…Decades after their initial excavation and acquisition by museums, Palaeolithic engravings are still being discovered on small portable objects such as bone and antler fragments and stone slabs, even from some of the most intensively studied collections (eg, Cook & Welte 1992; Kaagan et al . 2011).…”