Abri by Raymonden
| Raymonden
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.JPG) The entrance to the Abri |
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| Location: | Dordogne , Nouvelle-Aquitaine , France | |
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Geographic location: |
45 ° 12 '25 " N , 0 ° 40' 25" E | |
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| Geology: | Turonium | |
The Abri von Raymonden is a small semi- cave in the French commune of Chancelade in the Dordogne department . It was inhabited during the Upper Paleolithic and, in addition to many artifacts and works of art, also contained a human skeleton.
Geography, geology and description of the location
Raymonden is about a kilometer north of the center of Chancelade on the left side of the valley of the Beauronne , a right tributary of the Isle . The river makes a meander loop here , which is accompanied by a rock face for 800 meters. The lay-flat rock consists of limestone , the so-called Angoumian , a formation of Turoniums , then it follows Coniacian . The Angoumian was intensively mined as a natural building block, a harder bench from this formation was used in particular for the production of millstones. The cave is located on this rock face in the middle between two large quarries not far from the village of Les Grèzes . The D 939 runs from Périgueux to Brantôme en Périgord in the immediate vicinity .
history
The prehistoric site was discovered in 1876 by M. Hardy , who then also carried out excavations. Two high school teachers followed him in 1883. When the railway line from Périgueux to Brantôme was built in 1887, the deposits at the cave entrance were mistakenly used as track ballast and scattered over three kilometers, including many stone artifacts and bone fragments! Hardy and M. Féaux then undertook a systematic investigation that lasted until 1888. Their efforts were successful because they found a human burial site at the base of the archaeological debris.
In 1927 L. Didon dug in the front area of Raymonden. After his death, J. Bouyssonie continued his work from 1928 to 1929.
stratigraphy
The overexploitation of the railroad workers seriously damaged the cave. Despite everything, Hardy was able to distinguish four layers of fire in the 1.35 meter thick archaeological layer in 1891, which were separated by thin, sandy and clayey levels. Unfortunately, the findings now kept in the Musée du Périgord in Périgueux have not been assigned to specific levels. On the basis of certain characteristic finds, however, the period Magdalenian IV - VI can be recognized.
Didon and Bouyssonie were also able to distinguish four layers in their excavations in the front area of the cave, which could be flooded by the river, but these can be assigned to Magdalenian I - III.
In retrospect, Raymonden was the only site in the Périgord that had all stages of the Magdalenian.
Finds
Raymonden contained numerous stone artefacts and bone fragments from the Magdalenian, including numerous works of art. For example, the very beautiful and somewhat puzzling wisent plaque ( French: plaquette au bison ) became known.
The Magdalenian I contained mostly scratches , but no blades . The Magdalenian II, on the other hand, was very rich in blades, followed by scrapers and burins, which were equally well represented . In Magdalenian III the burins clearly dominated.
The bone finds are clearly dominated by the reindeer . The saiga antelope then appears in Magdalenian II . The bones found in seals are remarkable ! in Magdalenian VI.
Tomb
The tomb at the base contained a human skeleton, known as the Chancelade Man , who was quite different from the Cro-Magnon man . He was lying on his left side, his knees drawn in strongly, his left hand resting under his skull and his right under his chin. He had been powdered with red iron oxide powder (ocher), recognizable by the red colored bones. This Homo sapiens sapiens is now in the Musée du Périgord.
This is a 35-40 year old and 1.60 meter tall man with fairly long arms and splayed toes. His brain volume is 1675 cubic centimeters and is thus well above the usual average. He was obviously suffering from chronic rheumatism. The right half of the skull had suffered lesions that had healed.
Raymoon North
A little further north is a smaller abri, Raymonden-Nord , sometimes called the Chancelade Cave . It contains artifacts from the Moustérien (MTA type), from the Lower Périgordien and from the Aurignacien .
Age
Raymonden-Nord is a clearly older settlement area that had already been explored in Moustérien. The main cave in turn spans the entire Magdalenian, ie roughly the period from 17,000 to 11,000 years BP. It may also extend into Azilia .
literature
- Delluc, B. & G., Roussot, A. & Roussot-Larroque, J .: Connaître la préhistoire en Périgord . Éditions SUD-OUEST, 1990, ISBN 2-87901-048-9 .
- Platel, J.-P. et al .: Périgueux (Ouest) . In: Carte géologique de la France at 1/50 000 . BRGM, Orléans 1989, ISBN 2-7159-1758-9 .
