Gravettian

waiting for translation Někdejší obrysy Evropy byly odlišné od těch dnešních, stejně jako klimatické podmínky. I ty během samotného gravettienu kolísaly.

Mapa zachycuje území gravettineu během střední fáze mladého paleolitu. Kolečka označují některé významné archeologické lokality.

The Gravettian of Italy is renowned above all for its figurines and burials. Buried people often have archaeologically preserved appliqués, their caps being decorated above all. Exceptionally there were also found some minor body decorations and sometimes imaginative and complicated necklaces, which are unknown to North of Italy. The Alps separated Italy from the colder part of Europe, which influenced the existence and evolution of the Italian Gravettian. The climate here was substantially less harsh than that in more northern parts of Europe. The Gravettian of Italy existed 30,000 – 20,000 years ago and its prominent influence continued here for several successive millenia after that period.

A small, stone zoomorphic mask with a third eye in the forehead. The tiny sculpture (several centimetres long) leads us to the sphere of mysticism and mythology, which is unknown and mysterious to us.

A mythological motive of a snake and a woman (a reconstructional transformation of a sculpture)

The unity of polarity of the two bodies. The front view tells us that the first body is obviously a woman, whereas the second one is not a man, but a snake with a parted toothed mouth and apparently slanting eyes on both sides of the head. The belly of the snake bears notches that correspond to long transverse plates characteristic of bellies of the snakes. This apparently mythological motive of a snake and a woman appears in probably all mythologies of the world including Australia and Asia. The Old Testament told about Eve and the snake as well. The psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung considered the snake one of the common archetypes. Various forms of the unity of polarity were unearthed in other Gravettian archaeological sites of Europe.

The boy from Arene Candide (a reconstructional transformation of the burial)

The boy, buried in a cave, wore a cap with hundreds of shells sewn on it. The objects on his shoulders and his incredibly long stone blade are mysteries to us. The climate of the Italian Gravettian was substantially warmer in comparison with the other Gravettian sites in Europe. There were no mammoths and reindeer. Deer were the main source of furs. A lot of awls found here testify to the fact that clothes were sewn here.

waiting for translation Jeskyně Barma Grande v Itálii. Trojhrob je počtem pohřbených osob shodný s hrobem z Dolních Věstonic. I tady evidentně vidíme tvořivou hru s orientací lidských těl. Charakteristická je dlouhá postava muže oproti drobným postavám žen. Jev, který je jednotící pro celý gravettien, stejně jako často nápadně dlouhé končetiny mužů (jakoby ,,afrického“ typu). Pro gravettien charakteristické zdobení čepice vidíme i zde. A stejně jako některé uniformní jednotící prvky u oděvů sungirců, tak i zde najdeme jednotící podobnosti. Mimo čepice to jsou zvláštní malé kostěné sponovité předměty na hrudi. U muže je ,,spona“ vylepšená o další zdobící elementy kolem. Jedna postava měla i nápadný nákrčník nebo náhrdelník. Itálie nepatřila přímo k severskému gravettienu, nenosilo se zde oblečení až ke krku, proto taková ozdoba mohla být vidět a dávala smysl. Na obraze není sobí kožešina, ale kožešina z jelena. Dominantnější tady na jihu byl totiž jelen, mamut zde téměř chyběl. I tak jsou v této oblasti stále nacházena kostěná šídla k výrobě šitých oděvů.

A portrait of the Lady of Brassempouy (a reconstructional transformation of the carving)

The Gravettian of western Europe spread from Wales in the British Isles through Belgium to southern France. The term Gravettian comes from one of the archaeological sites in France, and is applied to the cultures that produced - among other objects -small pointed blades with specifically blunt backs. The Gravettian sites and female figurines called Venuses – some of them very famous - have been known since the nineteenth century. Some of the Venuses convey very important information on the fashion of the era, for example the well-known Lady of Brassempouy.

The Lady with a horn (a reconstructional transformation according to the relief)

This French Venus involuntarily shows us that it was possible to wear surprisingly long hair in western Europe and that a horn was used for drinking, as it was common during later periods. The whole figure was originally covered with red ochre.

The Lady with a headdress (a reconstructional transformation according to the relief)

Another relief shows a segmented headdress, which is a unique matter among the Gravettian material.

Generally, the archaeologists do not unearth sculptures that look like those from the films about Indiana Jones or the Treasure Hunters. In most cases, they find just broken fragments of archaic works of art. Even these fragments can surprise you. For example, the sculpture on the left reminds of a hairdo of Ancient Egypt or a headgear of old Japan. The fragment on the right with a strange circle under the chest may represent crossed hands or a very thick decorative belt.

The Gravettian of Central Europe – the Pavlovian and Kostenki-Willendorf cultures

The Gravettian of eastern Europe enjoys a worldwide reputation for an incredibly rich archaeological material including many expressive Venuses that mostly have short hairstyles. Incredibly rich, unique burials are also well-known. The dream of every archaeologist, who is involved in the Gravettian studies, is to discover and explore such a site as Kostenki on the Don River. The Kostenkian, Kostenki-Avdeevo and Kostenki-Streletskaya cultures are the examples of the cultures of the eastern European Gravettian.

The archaeological discovery, which profoundly changed our view of the prehistoric people

Excavations of the Upper Palaeolithic site by the brook of Sungir, not far from Moscow, yielded a fantastic and unexpected burial, approximately 27,000–23,000 let years old. The site is connected with the legendary archaeologist and sculptor M. M. Gerasimov (he devised a methodology of making a portrait according to a skull, which is now used worldwide by criminologists) and the archaeologist, specialist in the Palaeolithic, O. N. Bader.

The front page of the original book on the Upper Palaeolithic site of Sungir by O.N.Bader. (The title of the publication was Sungir, antropologicheskoe issledovanie).

The Russian archaeologists involved in the Gravettian studies also published their unique discoveries in other Russian books.

Mikhail Mikhailovich Gerasimov worked out the portrait of the man, and his colleagues made the portraits of the children. They were unicolour, made of gypsum and metal, and that is why they were incomprehensible and unattractive and, as a result, these amazing reconstructions remained unnoticed by both the mass media and the public.

These original Russian reconstructions were modified so as to look lifelike and authentic in order to present them on the Antropark website.

A portrait of an elderly man from Sungir (a reconstructional portrait according to a skull)

The portrait shows neither hair nor a beard, because these are always very specific and can change the appearance of a man substantially. The man was tall and broad- shouldered. People with a similar appearance can be surely found now in every part of Europe.

(reconstructional portraits according to the skulls and the original unique material from the double burial of the children)

The portrait of the boy approx. 13 years old The portrait of the girl 8-9 years old

Each of the children had very specific individual features. The boy had a smaller nose and a prominent mouth, the girl had a classically shaped face.

O. N. Bader noticed that the beads on the trousers of the man from Sungir reminded of the trousers worn by the Indians of northwest America (the Indian trousers are depicted on the left).

A reconstructional transformation of the unique children’s double burial of Sungir

(a reconstructional transformation of a mythological concept according to a sculptural group)

In Russia, relatively not far from Sungir, there is another well-known Gravettian site called Gagarino. It is interesting that one of the sculptures found there shows a woman/girl and a man/boy in a way similar to that of Sungir. The bodies are united by the heads, but turned to the opposite directions. Here we could see again the mystical concept of the unity of polarity.

In a dwelling of the people of Sungir (a reconstructional imitation close to an artistic competent imagination)

The reconstructional imitation of the production of belemnite beads in a dwelling of the Gravettian people of Sungir. The Sungir site was not interesting just because of the clothes and outfits of the buried people, but also due to the fact that the dwellings of the settlement did not have the usual oval or circular ground plans. The dwellings were rather oblong, and thus they reminded of the large houses of the Indians of the American Northwest or the large log cabins of Siberia.

“The lord of the world” (the first pictorial reconstructional project of Antropark, 1998)

The weapon, which the depicted hunter holds in his hand, was so effective that he could feel himself as a lord of the world during his hunting expeditions. A hunter from Sungir in the festive clothing with a coat, armed with an ivory lance made of an artificially straightened mammoth tusk. The magical picture “The lord of the world“ painted in 1998 is the most frequently published reconstruction of more than 100 reconstructions created for Antropark. The picture was shown in several programmes of the Czech TV, TV Nova and in the Reflex weekly. It was also used as a poster in the exhibition “The World of Karel Absolon”.

waiting for translation Chlapec a děvče v oděvech odvozených podle hrobů v Sungiru. Kruh v pozadí je čepec dívenky s částečně rekonstruovanými korálky z belemnitoviny. Práce evokuje velmi bohatý kulturní vzorec dekorativních výtvarných prvků kostěnkovsko-strelecké kultury sungirského typu.

waiting for translation Sungirská rodina před velkým domem. Tato práce se věnuje souladnému vyzdobení plášťů (vzory z některých sungirských předmětů), uplatňuje poznatek, že zdobený oděv měli jak muži, tak ženy i děti. Obraz přidává do celkového kulturního vzorce i místní architekturu. Velký dům měl rozměry obdobné jako některé domy severozápadních indiánů a mohl být také domovem pro několik rodin. Obdélníkové nebo čtvercové půdorysy jsou v paleolitu dlouho známy – například z Plateau Parain z Francie a další z amerického mladopaleolitického prostředí. V Sungiru nenajdeme žádné kůlové jamky jako v neolitu. Do permafrostu (věčně zmrzlé půdy) nelze ani tak snadno kůly umístit. Výhodnější je klást klády horizontálně na sebe. Spodní ležící klády rovnoměrně rozkládají celkovou váhu a obydlí se při oblevách nedeformuje tak rychle a je celkově stabilní.

waiting for translation V Sungiru jsou půdorysy obydlí vždy obdélníkové a ve dvojicích. Mladopaleolitičtí stavitelé nedělali nic, co by jim nebylo vlastní, jen využívali vlastnosti užitých materiálů tak, aby dosáhli vyhovujících výsledků u masivních zimních obydlí trvalejšího rázu. Zatímco spodní čelisti mamutů (Mežiriči), mamutí lebky (Mezin), kameny s parožím (Malta na Sibiři) nebo dlouhé mamutí kosti jsou vhodné jen pro kruhové nebo oválné stavby, rovné, dobře štípatelné, masivní dřevo se zase hodí pro obdélníkové konstrukce. Jak známe z etnografie severozápadních indiánů, nepotřebujete ani sekeru ani pilu, stačí jen kamenné nástroje, dřevěné klíny a palice. A jak strom pokácí? Nijak. Masivní prkna se štípou prostě ze stojících stromů. Na severozápadě Severní Ameriky je takto využito cedrového dřeva, v tehdejší severské Evropě bude použit jiný strom a jemu uzpůsobená specifická technologie. Tyto nové vstupní rekonstrukce překvapivě až teprve nyní otevírají téma obdélníkových obydlí a technologií zpracovávání dřeva v severských podmínkách. Výzdoba samotného obydlí by měla být souladná s reprezentačním pojetím oděvů. Uprostřed jednoho takového obydlí byly pohřbeny sungirské děti v dvojhrou. Muž byl pohřben až později, kdy se rozpadla (nebo byla rozebrána) druhá stavba. Podélná osa jeho hrobu navazuje na osu dětského dvojhrou. Muž je pohřben jak vně, tak uvnitř vedlejšího půdorysu obydlí. Zřejmě z dřívějších starších pohřbů se v rámci těchto dvou hrobů objevují pozůstatky dalších lidských těl. Proto mělo toto místo statut pohřebiště. Dvě další obydlí byla nejspíše postavena až později a o trochu níže, dál od pohřbených.

In a dwelling of Kostenki (a reconstructional imitation, the decorative straps are made according to the unearthed figurines of Kostenki)

Kostenki on the Don River is another famous archaeological site. The Gravettian climate there was arctic. The reconstructional imitation shows us the interior of a dwelling, where there was no need to wear warm clothes. Notice the typical decoration of the chests with diagonal and horizontal stripes, which can be seen in a series of Venus figurines, also characterized by short haircuts. Note also the long shovels with decorated handles behind the kneeling figure.

The imaginative handles of the shovels can give us an idea of how the other products of the Gravettian of eastern Europe, for example skies, sledges, carriers for children, bags, cases for tools, weapons and other things could look like.

The reconstructional transformation fully respects the hairdo and the horizontal decorative stripes. The Venuses of the Kostenkian culture bear fantastic and unique information on the then decorations. The Gravettian Venuses almost always depicted dignifiedly standing women, and with the exception of cubistically shaped Venuses these figurines were made with much attention, so we can see the decorations and even geometrized decorations. Only the Gravettian Venuses bear information on the ethnographic grooming of female bodies.

The statuettes coming from this era are repeatedly carrying signs of ethnographical ornamentation. These two statues show breast belts and bracelets.

The level of the Gravettian industry - design, workmanship, and artistic quality

We can see an excellent workmanship in the small artefacts (spikes with heads, wheels, spike with eyelet) made of hard, durable material (ivory) from the Avdejevo and Sungir sites. These artefacts suggest us of the quality of the objects that did not remain (e.g. boats, oars, sledge, ski, winter boots, bags, baskets, etc.).

waiting for translation Gravettienci dovedli mamutí roh změkčit a narovnat. Na Moravě z něj vyráběli čtyřiceticentimetrové hroty oštěpů, v Sungiru i dvoumetrové kopí.

The quality of the Gravettian products was dictated by the harsh arctic conditions. Everything had to be light, ingenious, well made and, above all, extremely reliable. Nobody surely wanted to lose a glove during a several days long expedition. This would have surely meant a frostbite and loss of several fingers. Unreliable boots or sledges would have certainly meant death. That is why archaeologists find so many proofs of the meticulous work of the Gravettian designers, craftsmen and artists, all these skills often represented probably one and the same person.

The Gravettian people look like people who were very particular about their appearance to make favourable impression on each other and on foreigners as well. The figurines show us neat hairstyles and imaginative headgears, some of them quite unconventional. We can also see decorative body belts and decorations in figurines and also in burials.

A reconstructional metamorphosis of a typical Kostenki- type cut of eastern Europe, which we can see in many figurines.

Next period

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The Gravettian of Moravia – the Pavlovian

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Aurignacian

Persona of gravettian - basic professional work. zThis work handles the appearance and the ability of people of ancient cultures of the Upper Palaeolithic (only in Czech version - use online translator) - www.tvarpraveku.wz.cz

The largest image exhibition of Venus (only in Czech version - use online translator) - Venus - the path of time

Introduction to reconstructive paleoetnologie - reconstructive paleoetnologie textbooks for high schools, the basic methodology for dealing with materials around the capabilities and behavior of ancient ethnic options rekonstrukční paleoetnologie (only in Czech version - use online translator) - www.rekonstrukcepraveku.wz.cz