The Magdalenian culture flourished in France and Spain between 20,000 and 10,000 years ago, during an era known as
the Upper Paleolithic Period. This Cro-Magnon hunter-gatherer culture was much closer to us on the time line of human
development than it was to the earliest humans. The brain of the Cro-Magnon was more advanced than that of the Neanderthal.
It included a large frontal lobe, like that of today's humans, which gave Cro-Magnons the ability to use and
understand symbols. Although there is evidence of earlier art, Magdalenian culture took a major step forward
in visual communication by creating representations in a permanent location—the cave wall. By the time of the
cave paintings at Lascaux in southern France (17,000 years ago) and Altamira in northern Spain (12,000 years ago),
artists had developed remarkable skill in using paints, painting tools, and wall space.
What else is known about the Magdalenian culture?
Scientists know that the Magdalenian cave painters in France and Spain were good toolmakers.
They created double-sided flint weapon points, used sewing needles to make their animal-skin
clothing and tents, and lighted the darkness with lamps that burned animal fat. They had language
and used it in part to coordinate the hunt, usually of reindeer. They lived in groups of 25-40,
splitting into new groups and moving to other areas when their numbers became too big for the available
food supply. Men were the hunters; women gathered berries and other foods in the milder seasons. There
is no evidence of warfare between groups.
At about the time of the Lascaux paintings, the climate entered a milder period during which the glaciers were subsiding.
In this period, human and animal populations increased. It was during this period that the artistic impulse spread
throughout Europe. Within a thousand years, the glaciers had reappeared, but the artistic impulse did not wane.
Artists went deeper into caves, often squeezing through narrow passageways to reach suitable caverns for painting.
The glacial ice receded for the last time around 10,000 years ago. Following this change of climate, the practice
of cave painting declined. The existing paintings were forgotten for thousands of years.
Credits: Hall of Bulls at Lascaux Sisse Brimberg/National Geographic Image Collection.
Top of Page
|
