Artists on the edge of the world: An integrated approach to the study of Magdalenian engraved stone plaquettes from Jersey (Channel Islands)

Abstract

The Upper Palaeolithic is characterised by the appearance of iconographic expressions most often depicting animals, including anthropomorphic forms, and geometric signs. The Late Upper Palaeolithic Magdalenian saw a flourishing of such depictions, encompassing cave art, engraving of stone, bone and antler blanks and decoration of tools and weapons. Though Magdalenian settlement exists as far northwest as Britain, there is a limited range of art known from this region, possibly associated with only fleeting occupation of Britain during this period. Stone plaquettes, flat fragments of stone engraved on at least one surface, have been found in large quantities at numerous sites spanning the temporal and geographical spread of the Magdalenian, but they have been absent so far from the archaeological record of the British Isles. Between 2015 and 2018, ten fragments of stone plaquettes extensively engraved with abstract designs were uncovered at the Magdalenian site of Les Varines, Jersey, Channel Islands. In this paper, we report detailed analyses of these finds, which provide new evidence for technologies of abstract mark-making, and their significance within the lives of people on the edge of the Magdalenian world. These engraved stone fragments represent important, rare evidence of artistic expression in what is the far northern and western range of the Magdalenian and add new insight to the wider significance of dynamic practices of artistic expression during the Upper Palaeolithic.

Art by firelight? Using experimental and digital techniques to explore Magdalenian engraved plaquette use at Montastruc (France)

“…3D capture techniques have previously been used successfully to consider Palaeolithic parietal art production and its relationship to the cave wall [ 65 – 72 ], albeit with some limitations [ 73 ]. It has seen increasing application to portable art including plaquettes [ 3 , 19 , 74 – 77 ], offering a means to understand engraving in relation to natural features of the support on which it was made. New analyses [ 60 ] confirmed earlier reported findings [ 13 , 78 ] regarding the engravings present on each plaquette, and revealed new insights about the patterns of heating and placement of engravings on surfaces.…”

“…They feature a breadth of engraved or painted depictions, including: figurative or stylised animals [ 1 – 7 ]; humans and anthropomorphic forms, usually highly stylised [ 8 – 12 ]; abstract or geometric motifs [ 13 ]; and more rarely aspects of the environment or habitation areas, such as rivers [ 14 ] or built structures [ 15 ]. Plaquettes are found in greatest frequency in Western Europe, including Portugal to the southwest [ 16 – 18 ], Jersey [ 19 ] and Normandy [ 20 ] to the northwest, and with high concentrations in France, Spain and Germany [ 13 , 21 ]. Plaquettes are only rarely reported from Central and Eastern Europe [ 22 – 24 ] and are absent from Britain, despite the presence of other types of Magdalenian parietal and portable art [ 21 , 25 – 29 ].…”

Techné of Rock Engravings –the Timna Case Study

“…Our approach aligns with a growing tendency in the archeological studies of engravings to depart from observational methods (Moro Abadía & González Morales, 2020) and the search for the meaning of visual aspects (Tomášková, 2020), rather emphasizing and tracing the acts involved in the making of the engraving/s (Dobres, 2000(Dobres, , 2010; Moro Abadía & González Morales, 2020; Tomášková, 2020). The analysis of mobile engraved artifacts has been based on the identi cation of overlaps and directionality sequences of the engraved lines (Bello et al, 2020;d'Errico & Cacho, 1994;Farbstein, 2011;Fritz, 1999;Green, 2010Green, , 2016Lechtman, 1977;Leroi-Gourhan, 1993;Schlanger, 1994). In other cases, the study of the cross-section cuts along the incised paths has been considered as providing indication for the methods of execution.…”

The Past, Present and Future of Rock Art Research in Scotland

“…In making this comment, we exclude the marked stones recovered from Les Varines (Jersey), which date to around 15,000 years ago(Bello et al 2020). Although Jersey forms part of the UK administratively it is geographically considerably closer to France than mainland UK.…”