Magdaleniense

Mary Magdalene
Dialéctica
Elkanah
1Sam. 1:2
"And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children."

Natural Curtain, St. Paul, MN

Through the bars of an icy prison, we see a glowing sun, who has escaped and is heading for the sky.

Chess: "Magdalena" "Dialéctica" "Bambi" "Elkanah: the age of the reindeer" "San Agustin"

Magdalenian

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Magdalenian, also spelled Magdalénien, refers to one of the later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic in western Europe. It is named after the type site of La Madeleine, a rock shelter located in the Vézère valley, commune of Tursac, in the Dordogne department of France.

Magdalenian horse head carving

Originally termed "L'Âge du Renne" (the Age of the Reindeer) by Lartet & Christy (1875), the Magdalenian is synonymous in many people's minds with reindeer hunters, although Magdalenian sites also contain extensive evidence for the hunting of red deer, horse and other large mammals present in Europe towards the end of the last ice age. The culture was geographically widespread, and later Magdalenian sites have been found from Portugal in the west to Poland in the east.

Duration

Magdalenian people dwelt not just in caves but also used tents like this one of Pincevent (France)

The culture spans the period between c. 18,000 and 10,000 BP (uncalibrated), towards the end of the last ice age. The Magdalenien is characterised by regular blade industries struck from carinated cores. Typologically the Magdalenian is divided into six phases which are generally agreed to have chronological significance. The earliest phases are recognised by the varying proportion of blades and specific varieties of scrapers, the middle phases marked by the emergence of a microlithic component (particularly the distinctive denticulated microliths) and the later phases by the presence of uniserial (phase 5) and biserial 'harpoons' (phase 6) made of bone, antler and ivory (Sonneville-Bordes & Perrot, 1954-56).

Magdalenian bone weapons

There is extensive debate about the precise nature of the earliest Magdalenian assemblages, and it remains questionable whether the Badegoulian culture is in fact the earliest phase of the Magdalenian. Similarly finds from the forest of Beauregard near Paris have often been suggested as belonging to the earliest Magdalenian (Hemmingway 1980). The earliest Magdalenian sites are all found in France.
The later phases of the Magdalenian are also synonymous with the human re-settlement of north-western Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum. Extensive research in Switzerland, southern Germany (Housley et al. 1997) and Belgium (Charles 1996) has provided detailed AMS radiocarbon dating to support this.
By the end of the Magdalenian, the lithic technology shows a pronounced trend towards increased microlithisation. The bone harpoons and points are the most distinctive chronological markers within the typological sequence. As well as flint tools, the Magdalenians are best known for their elaborate worked bone, antler and ivory which served both functional and aesthetic purposes including bâtons de commandement. Examples of Magdalenian mobile art include figurines and intrically engraved projectile points, as well as items of personal adornment including sea shells, perforated carnivore teeth (presumably necklaces) and fossils.
The sea shells and fossils found in Magdalenian sites can be sourced to relatively precise areas of origin, and so have been used to support hypothesis of Magdalenian hunter-gatherer seasonal ranges, and perhaps trade routes. Cave sites such as the world famous Lascaux contain the best known examples of Magdalenian cave art. The site of Altamira in Spain, with its extensive and varied forms of Magdalenian mobillary art has been suggested to be an agglomeration site where multiple small groups of Magdalenian hunter-gatherers congregated (Conkey 1980).
In northern Spain and south west France it was superseded by the Azilian culture. In northern Europe we see a slightly different picture, with different variants of the Tjongerian techno-complex following it. It has been suggested that key Late Glacial sites in south-western Britain can also be attributed to the Magdalenian, including the famous site of Kent's Cavern, although this remains open to debate.
San Augustin Gold Objects
Gold and precious metal objects from the San Augustin culture of Colombia
In the mountainous regions of San Agustín and the La Plata valley, near the headwaters of the River Magdalena, social hierarchies began to develop in the small, Formative Period societies from 1000 B.C. onwards.

In the Regional Classical Period, between 1 and 900 A.D., the rank and religious power of the different leaders was expressed through the building of funerary monuments with stone statues carved out of volcanic tuff. Although it was not common for these leaders to accumulate goldwork, some of them were buried with regalia that included gold objects. A slender winged fish is in marked contrast to the impressive statues.

During the Recent Period, which extended from 900 to 1500 A.D., the population increased, but people still lived in the same villages, with new leaders whose power was based on controlling the economy. Recent Period tombs only contain domestic vessel