Today we learned about the Upper Paleolithic tool traditions, which included the Aurignacian culture in Europe and Southwest Asia. The “tool tradition” statement comes from the idea that the art had certain characteristics that bound them together. The Aurignacian tools were made of bone or antlers. There were also paintings, jewelry such as bracelets and beads, and blades. There are many famous sites from this culture such as the Chauvet Cave, Venus of Hohle Fels, and the Bacho Kiro burial site.

The video we watched on Tuesday, “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”, was about the Chauvet Cave in southern France. It was found in 1994 in the Ardeche valley. This was part of the Aurignacian culture. The cave contains many drawings and paintings of mainly animals. Most of these animals are predators, as opposed to prey. These animals include bears, lions, panthers, mammoths, and bison. The drawings were fairly accurate anatomically and were not grandiose or changed for creative purposes. Some of the most famous and amazing pictures are the “Horse Panel” and the “Panel of Lions and Rhinoceroses.” There are no complete pictures of humans in the cave. The only humanly figure is the bottom half of a female. In the Aurignacian culture, may “Venuses” (art of women) were drawn or made to be large and fat, making their genitals and reproductive areas a focal point. There were also some hand stencils and red dots found in the cave thought to be from handprints of the modern humans.

The Bacho Kiro cave in Bulgaria was a cave in which the earliest human remains were found in that country. It is not entirely clear if the remains were from anatomically modern humans or Neanderthals.

Another Aurignacian piece of art found was the Venus of Hohle Fels, found near Schelklingen, Germany. This Venus is made of mammoth ivory and was not whole when found. It has been called slightly pornographic or “pin-up” of the era. The statue has a very full figure and has also been signaled not as pornographic but a symbol of nourishment, survival, and fertility.

Something I find very interesting about this culture is how the females are depicted. To me it makes sense that the women are very overweight because that was a sign of health and having enough food. When the humans of this era and culture were looking for a suitable mate, it would make sense they would choose one that would have a high chance of being able to produce offspring. This also shows why their reproductive organs were displayed and highlighted.

The Aurignacian culture was the earliest in the Upper Paleolithic era. The archaeological evidence such as art and human remains from this culture were beneficial for learning more about that time and its people.