Abri Pataud
Coordinates: 44 ° 56 ′ 17.7 ″ N , 1 ° 0 ′ 42.5 ″ E
The Abri Pataud is a Upper Paleolithic site of the French Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil , municipality of Les Eyzies , in the Dordogne department .
Research history
The Abri was named after Marcel Pataud, a local farmer who discovered it towards the end of the 19th century . Emile Rivière (1835–1922) first described the site in 1899 under the name "La Croze de Tayac". In 1901 and 1906, smaller excavations were carried out by Rivière, and in 1902 by Louis Capitan (1854–1929). In 1909 Denis Peyrony (1869–1954), whose excavation report appeared in 1949, designated the site as "Abri Pataud".
The systematic investigation began in 1953 by Hallam L. Movius (1907–1987). Movius led six excavation campaigns from 1958 to 1964, and his research was published by Harvey M. Bricker . Further work by an excavation team from the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle followed .
The Abri Pataud has been a Monument historique since 1930 , confirmed again in 1958 for the two Abris.
Geographical location
The Abri Pataud is located in the municipality of Les Eyzies between the district of Tayac and the center of the municipality, on the left bank of the Vézère and about 250 meters downstream from the Abri Cro-Magnon . The Abri actually consists of two sections, a Abri behind the barn of the farm and an adjoining, very deep Abri, now called Abri Movius in honor of Movius . The latter once served the farm as a wine cellar and now houses a small museum, which was opened in 1990 on the initiative of Henri de Lumley . The Abri Hallam was still inhabited in the Middle Ages and was then given a wall in the 18th century , the year 1734 is engraved on the lintel.
Below the Abri Pataud is the Abri Vignaud .
stratigraphy
The first abri was filled with a 9.25 meter thick sediment sequence in which Hallam could distinguish 14 layers with traces of human settlement. Among them were nine layers from the Aurignacia , four very rich layers of Gravettia or Périgordia (Périgordien IV to VII), as well as a final layer from the Lower Solutréen with laurel leaf tips .
- 1. Protomagdalenia, level 2
Short occupancy in winter. There are no fire pits. In addition to tool samples, remains of animals and the skeletons of six people, including a well-preserved skull of a young woman. 18,000 objects made of stone and organic material, including 1,150 retouched stone tools. Prick , even Mehrschlagstichel dominate, scratches and scrapers are very rare. There is a special technique for back knives. There are several types of bone projectile tips. Overall, it is very similar to the Laugerie-Haute industries .
- 2. Périgordien VI, Level 3:
During this period there were at least six occupancies. Most of the material comes from lens 2. There are over 2,000 stone artifacts, of which about 1,300 have been described as devices. Graver and partially retouched graver are predominant (31%), followed by scrapers (14%). Back tools and gravette tips are very numerous. There are also characteristic stone tools, such as scratches from amorphous chips, a few small back knives in conjunction with many gravette points, retouched drills and a series of different projectile points. There is a similarity with the material of the Périgordien VI of Laugerie-Haute, but not with the Noaillien of Pataud 4, apart from the predominance of the end-retouched burins and the frequency of bone tools. Similarity with pieces of Pataud 5: continuity of the development of technology between the late Central Périgordia (classical Gravettia) and the Périgordia VI. There were six fireplaces in a row parallel to the rock face.
- 3. Noaillien (Périgordien Vc), Level 4:
Divided into lens 4a, upper, middle and lower lens. Finds in lens 4a, separated from the others by a boulder, cannot be assigned. Upper and middle lens: material from the Noaillien supérieur , lower lens: Noaillien inférieur . There are a total of 11,000 stone artifacts, 5,200 of which are tools. Graver (especially Noailles graver ) are much more numerous here than scratches. In the Noaillien supérieur there are Raysse burins, end-retouched burins and end-retouched burin tips, while back tools are extremely rare. In Noaillien inférieur , Noailles points and surface retouched burins are common, and there are pointed arched scratches and scratches with a back edge. Among the many bone tools are various small bullet points, including the Isturitz type bullet points . The Noaillien from Pataud shows clear differences to the Périgordien in terms of the quantity and quality of the tools in levels 3 and 5. Two human teeth and a human femur fragment were found in the upper lens .
- 4. Middle Périgordia, Level 5:
5,600 retouched tools: burins and scratches are equally common, gravette points very numerous (20–30%), many fléchettes , bone industry very rare, no bullet points. Similar to La Gravette at the level of classical Gravettian. There were 11 fire pits and two human milk teeth were found.
- 5. Aurignacia, levels 6-14:
Four phases of the Aurignacia: Level 6: Postaurignacia II; Level 7, 8: Aurignacien II; Level 11, 12: Aurignacia I; Level 13, 14: Protoaurignacia I. Tendency: moving away from bone tips with a split base, increase in burins, reduction in marginal retouching and large blades.
The archaeologically relevant sequence covers roughly the period 33,000 to 20,000 BP .
The second, deep Abri contains mainly layers from the Gravettien and the Solutréen.
Finds
In addition to the stone artefacts typical for the individual cultural levels, the following remarkable works of art were found:
- Silhouette of a woman, engraved in a boulder from the Périgordien VI (first Abri).
- Very lifelike relief representation of an ibex ( Capra ibex ), which can be seen in the roof of the second demolition. The representation could be assigned to the Solutréen. It wasn't noticed until 1986.
The skull and skeleton of a 16-year-old woman with her newborn baby were also discovered in the rear section of the first abyss. The woman was six feet tall and next to her was a necklace with pearls and pierced teeth. She was baptized Madame Pataud and the sculptor E. Granqvist created a sculpture of her for the museum. The skeleton find comes from Périgordien VII (so-called Protomagdalénien ).
Interesting is the discovery of a hand ax that was made by Neanderthals during the Moustéry over 100,000 years ago and was then reused by the Cro-Magnon people at the beginning of the Magdalenian period .
The most important finds are now presented in a small museum right next to the site, which was inaugurated on March 31, 1990. The museum is an offshoot of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle .
Capricorn from the Abri Movius
Skull of the young woman of Périgordia VII
Reused hand ax of the Neanderthals
literature
- Bosselin, Bruno: Contribution de l'abri Pataud à la chronologie du Gravettien français . In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française . tape 93 , no. 2 , 1996, p. 183-194 ( online ).
- Bricker, HM (ed.): Le Paléolithique supérieur de l´abri Pataud (Dordogne): les fouilles de HL Movius jr. 1995.
- David NC: Excavation of the abri Pataud, Les Eyzies (Dordogne): the Noaillian (level 4) assemblages and the Noaillian culture in Western Europe. American School of Prehistoric Research, Peabody Museum, Harvard University, 37, 1985, 355 f.
- Delluc, B. & G., Roussot, A. & Roussot-Larroque, J .: Connaître la préhistoire en Périgord . Éditions SUD-OUEST, 1990, ISBN 2-87901-048-9 .
