Laugerie-Basse
Laugerie-Basse is an important Upper Paleolithic site in the French commune of Les Eyzies in the Dordogne department . She is known for several works of art from the Magdalenian period .
Geography, geology and location
The Abri von Laugerie-Basse, named after the hamlet of the same name, is located on the right side of the Vézère valley , about two kilometers upstream from Les Eyzies . It has formed at the foot of a 45 meter high and 500 meter long steep wall made of flat limestone from the Coniacium . The 15 meter deep Abri is now 15 meters above the river level. The houses of Laugerie-Basse were built directly on the rocks, taking advantage of the natural conditions, so that the rear wall and half of the roof could be dispensed with.
The prehistoric site consists of two abrises: the main Abri and the Abri des Marseilles 50 meters further upstream . The D 47 runs from Périgueux to Les Eyzies between the Abris and the Vézère .
history
The first excavations were carried out from 1863 on the main abri by Édouard Lartet and Henry Christy . At that time there was still a small farm with a barn and stable on the excavation site. Lartet and Christy were followed by the Marquis de Vibraye with his colleague Franchet and shortly afterwards Massénat. For the next five decades, the main avi was digging chaotically. Only between 1912 and 1913 did Denis Peyrony and Jean Maury proceed more methodically and document the stratigraphy of the main demolition. Maury then moved to the previously untouched Abri des Marseilles , where he worked until 1920.
stratigraphy
The finds in the main Abri come mainly from the Magdalenian III and the (middle) Magdalenian IV. Evidence suggests that Azilien is very thin . Remains from the Neolithic and the late Bronze Age were discovered in the rubble in front of the steep face .
The Abri des Marseilles has a more detailed stratigraphic sequence, the original profile is still there. As a result, the people of the Magdalenian settled directly on the floor of the abyss around 14,000 years ago. They lived in the abri until Magdalenian VI. The overhang then collapsed and the settlement site was littered with sometimes huge slabs of rock and rubble. The people then returned, as clearly indicated by traces of settlement on and between the boulders. Around 2000 BC BC members of the Artenac culture appeared , leaving behind an enormous layer of ash and charcoal that stretched over the entire Abri. Further collapses of the roof area followed and a rock chaos with up to 10 meter high blocks arose.
The main Abri has meanwhile been completely cleared, whereas the Abri des Marseilles has only been partially explored.
Finds
In addition to stone artifacts and other tools, around 600 works of art were recovered from the Magdalenian. In Laugerie-Basse, the Marquis de Vibraye found Shameless Venus ( French: Vénus impudique ) in 1864 , which gave the genre of the Paleolithic Venus figurines its name. Around 1867/1868, Abbé Landesque found the "woman under the reindeer" ( la femme au renne ). These art objects are now scattered across several museums around the world. From the middle Magdalenian (level IV) there are perforated bone rondelles with images of chamois and deer .
Age
The main Abri was inhabited in the middle and upper Magdalenian as well as in Azilien , which corresponds roughly to the period 14,000 to 10,000 years BP .
The Abri des Marseilles was inhabited for a longer period of time, it was inhabited throughout the Magdalenian and up to the Neolithic, corresponding to the period from 17,000 to 7,000 years BP.
UNESCO world heritage
Since 1979, Laugerie-Basse has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other important sites in the Vézère Valley .
literature
- Delluc, B. & G., Roussot, A. & Roussot-Larroque, Julia: Connaître la préhistoire en Périgord . Éditions SUD-OUEST, 1990, ISBN 2-87901-048-9 .
Web links
- The Abri von Laugerie-Basse on the website of the Pôle International de la Préhistoire
Coordinates: 44 ° 56 ′ 59.8 " N , 0 ° 59 ′ 54.4" E
