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The Significance of Social Gestures and Technologies of Embellishment in Paleolithic Portable Art

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Abstract

This paper analyzes the gestures and technologies used to make Paleolithic portable art. Contextualized within the theoretical schools of the anthropology of technology and using the chaîne opératoire methodology, the approach advanced here quantifies the relationships between technology, society, and aesthetics in the production of Paleolithic art. Focusing on Pavlovian art, dating to between 28,000 and 24,000 radiocarbon years BP, this paper assesses the suite of art production technologies, particularly those used when modifying and decorating ivory, and traces the relationship between decorative techniques and other characteristics of art. These analyses offer insight into Pavlovian art traditions and the emergence of innovative techniques in Paleolithic societies.

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Notes

  1. In keeping with the existing literature on Pavlovian archaeology, all dates presented in this paper are given in uncalibrated radiocarbon years before present.

  2. It can be inferred that sub-fossil ivory was probably not habitually collected from the landscape or permafrost, given the large quantities of mammoth remains found at many Pavlovian sites. (See Musil (1994, 1997, 2005)). While it remains unclear whether mammoths were systematically hunted by Pavlovian groups, there does seem to be convincing evidence that Pavlovian societies were interested in mammoth bones and tusks (see more discussion in Oliva 2003).

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Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank Jiří Svoboda and Martin Oliva for their generous assistance of research on the Pavlovian art assemblages from Moravia. Oliva facilitated research on art from DV I, Předmostí, and Brno II, which is curated at the Moravské zemské muzeum, Brno. Svoboda facilitated research on art from DV II, Pavlov I, and Pavlov II, which is curated at the Institute of Archaeology, Dolní Věstonice. Artifacts illustrated in Figs. 1, 3, 6, 7, and 8, which were photographed by the author, are curated in the Institute of Archaeology at Dolní Věstonice and are reproduced with kind permission from J. Svoboda. The author also wishes to thank two anonymous reviewers and the editors of this journal for their helpful feedback. Of course, all mistakes and shortcomings in this manuscript are of the author alone. Finally, she acknowledges the St. John’s College, Cambridge Benefactor’s Scholarship, for support while conducting analyses for this research, and the Caroline Villers Research Fellowship at the Courtauld Institute of Art for supporting her current research.

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    Rebecca Farbstein

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Farbstein, R. The Significance of Social Gestures and Technologies of Embellishment in Paleolithic Portable Art. J Archaeol Method Theory 18, 125–146 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-010-9085-9

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