Périgordia

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Périgordia
Age : younger Paleolithic
Absolutely : about 38,000 to 21,000 years ago

expansion
South West France
Leitforms

Blunted blades, Châtelperron points, Gravette points, Font Robert points, Noailles burins ; first statuettes

The Périgordien comprises a regional division of the early and middle Upper Palaeolithic, limited to southwest France (the Périgord ) . The term, which is only relevant for research history in archeology, includes the cultural stages of Châtelperronia , Aurignacia and Gravettia , which are common today , ranging from around 38,000 to 21,000 BP according to 14C data . Without further additions to the classification I - VII, the term Périgordien was used synonymously for the term Gravettien , which is common today.

history

The term Périgordien, derived from the area of ​​its occurrence, the Périgord , was introduced in 1933 by Denis Peyrony , who originally distinguished six sub-levels - Périgordien I to Périgordien VI . Later he added Périgordien VII and Périgordien VIII ( French Périgordien final ). He correlated the stages using the stratigraphy of La Ferrassie and Laugerie-Haute with the five stages of the Aurignacien - Aurignacien 0 to Aurignacien IV .

distribution

The distribution area of ​​the Périgordien is located between the Loire and the Pyrenees , but its focus is clearly in the Périgord. In its upper stages, this core area extended to Belgium in the north and to the Don in Russia in the east.

stratigraphy

The Périgordien follows the Moustérien and is in turn replaced by the Solutréen . It is subdivided as follows (from hanging wall to lying ):

  • (Périgordia VIII)
  • Périgordia VII
  • Périgordia VI
  • Périgordia V
  • Périgordien IV - corresponds to the lower Gravettien
  • Périgordia III
  • Périgordien II - corresponds to the Aurignacien 0
  • Périgordien I - corresponds to the base of Henry Breuils Aurignacien ancien . Is now commonly referred to as Châtelperronien .

The steps Perigordian I-III are referred to as the lower Perigordian ( inférieur Perigordian or Perigordian ancien ) Perigordian IV and V as median Perigordian ( Perigordian moyen ) and Perigordian VI-VII as Upper Perigordian ( Perigordian supérieur or Perigordian récent ) are summarized.

Age

The Périgordien I (Lower Périgordien) begins at about 38,000 years BP. The Périgordien IV (Middle Périgordien) begins at around 28,000 years BP and the Périgordien VI (Upper Périgordien) at 22,000 years BP. The Upper Périgordien finally ends around 21,000 years BP and the Solutréen begins .

climate

Climatically, the entire Périgordia falls into the Würm glacial period . The introductory Lower Périgordien is still shaped by the climatic conditions of the outgoing Interstadial Würm II / III , but already with a clear tendency towards cooling. The rest of the Périgordien was exposed to the cold period of Würm III - the very cold and dry conditions of a cold steppe prevailed, which were occasionally briefly interrupted by somewhat more moderate episodes (with a sporadic return of trees, such as during the interstadial of Tursac). The cold maximum of Würm III falls in Périgordien VI.

Tool shapes and works of art

The Venus von Laussel from Périgordia

Blades with blunted backs (abrupt retouching) and graver with blunt are typical of the stone tool industry of the Périgordien . From the Périgordien IV (Gravettien) the blades were then used in harpoons made of wood. With more than 30% of the tool finds, the number of burins including the burins with a stump outweighs the number of scrapers by far.

At the beginning of the Périgordia, the curved Châtelperron blades appear for the first time . This is followed by the extremely common Gravette points as an attachment of robust and pointed throwing spikes. In Périgordien IV there are the so-called Bayac arrowheads , in Périgordien V the Font-Robert points , which were attached to the handle by means of a thread, tools with a stump ( notch points ) and Noailles graver . In the Upper Périgordien (VI) there are stalked leaf tips and microgravette tips . In Périgordien VII the share of burins increases to about 40%, leaf tips with a back make up 30%.

Tools were also made from bones , for example awls , thorns, earless needles, pads for smoothing and chopping, pipes made from reindeer phalanges , tube corks and sometimes very elongated, double-conical spearheads. Bone material was also processed for jewelry purposes.

Find places

The following sites lead strata of the Périgordien:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Denis Peyrony: Les industries "aurignaciennes" dans le bassin de la Vézére. In: Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française. Vol. 30, No. 10, 1933, ISSN  0037-9514 , pp. 543-559, doi : 10.3406 / ex . 1933.6793 .
  2. ↑ Denis Peyrony: Le Périgordien et l'Aurignacien. (Nouvelles observations). In: Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française. Vol. 33, No. 11, 1936, pp. 616-619, doi : 10.3406 / ex . 1936.5461 .

literature

  • Jean-Luc Aubarbier, Michel Binet, Geneviève Guichard: Aimer la Préhistoire en Périgord . Éditions Ouest-France, Rennes 1991, ISBN 2-7373-0786-4 .
  • Brigitte Delluc, Gilles Delluc, Alain Roussot, Julia Roussot-Larroque: Connaître la préhistoire en Périgord . Éditions Sud-Ouest, Bordeaux 1990, ISBN 2-87901-048-9 .