Contour découpé
Contour découpé ( French , literally "cut out outline") describes a type of Upper Palaeolithic small art . Contours découpés are figurative representations of animals or animal heads cut from flat pieces of bone or antler . In the narrower sense, it only refers to objects that were carved from the hyoid bone of horses .
The object is decorated with engraved or scratched details, usually on both sides. By far the most common motif is the horse , less common are the reindeer and the ibex .
Contours découpés were evidently intended for hanging (possibly as body decoration), because they usually have one or more perforations.
Contours découpés existed in the middle and younger Magdalénien , especially in the south of France , but also in Spain ( Asturias ), Belgium ( Province of Namur ) and North Rhine-Westphalia .
Web links
- Les contours découpés information (French) in the Base Joconde (database of the French Ministry of Culture)