Interconnected Magdalenian societies as revealed by the circulation of whale bone artefacts in the Pyreneo-Cantabrian region

Crafting Idiosyncrasies. Early Social Complexity, Ivory and Identity-Making in Copper Age Iberia

“…Their size, mysterious life in the sea and the ability to see them up close due to beaching probably conferred on them a mythical meaning, as happened in medieval and even modern times (Schuhmacher et al 2013b). This could also explain the exchange of whale bones observed for the Magdalenian in the Pyrenean-Cantabrian region, besides the existence of technical reasons linked to their size (Lefebvre et al 2021). It stands to reason that, because of its exotic provenance, ivory would have endowed the persons who dealt with it, obtained it, controlled its procurement and used it with a special power and prestige (García Sanjuán et al 2013;2018b,c;Schuhmacher 2017).…”

What's in a whale bone? Combining new analytical methods, ecology and history to shed light on ancient human-whale interactions

“…When recovered in contexts where the use of whale bone is not documented by historic or ethnographic sources, such artefacts can easily be overlooked for lack of trained specialists. For example, Pétillon (2013) and Lefebvre et al (2021) re-discovered over 160 artefacts of whale bone in 23 Magdalenian sites across the Pyreneo-Cantabrian region, mainly large projectile heads previously archived as antler artefacts.…”

“…Betts, 2007;Christensen, 2016;Clark, 1947;Cunliffe, 2013;Margaris, 2014), often related to weaponry (projectile points and harpoon heads). Sometimes their specific use can be readily identified in terms of functionality based on design, as in the case of the previously mentioned Magdalenian projectile points (Lefebvre et al, 2021;Pétillon, 2013) and other weaponry, common tools such as scrapers or wedges, or even gaming pieces (Hennius et al, 2018) and other context-specific tools such as stone pressure flakers (Christensen, 2016), wool weaving combs and peat spades (Mulville, 2002).…”

“…In practice, though, shore erosion or sea level rise mean that much of it is currently underwater (McLeod et al, 2008). Conversely, given that a substantial amount of bone can be obtained from a single stranded whale, a relatively high abundance or frequency of bone artefacts (e.g., evidence of a Magdalenian whale bone industry; Lefebvre et al, 2021;Pétillon, 2013) does not by itself demonstrate past whaling. Nonetheless, an increase in the use of whale bone may indicate an increase in its availability.…”

The Antler, Ivory, and Bone Artefacts from Maszycka Cave (Southern Poland). New Signals from a Late Upper Palaeolithic Key Site

“…These supra-regional commonalities are reflected in lithic technology, in particular by shared core concepts and reduction sequences, scalene bladelets and truncated backed bladelets (Chauvière et al, 2017;Gauvrit Roux, 2022;Guy Straus & González Morales, 2020;Langlais, 2020;Maier et al, 2020;Pétillon, 2016;Sécher, 2020). Cultural permeability and efficient communication networks, tangible by the circulation of lithic raw materials (Sécher & Caux, 2017), cetacean bone artefacts (Lefebvre et al, 2021) and certain molluscs (Guy- Straus &f Gonzáles Morales 2020, 193), obviously facilitated a swift dissemination of techno-economical norms across large areas of western Europe (Langlais et al, 2017). At the same time, these works also acknowledge the existence of distinct idiosyncrasies, mainly in terms of typology and artistic convention, and against this background the navettes facies remains widely accepted as an analytical unit.…”