The abri de Cro-Magnon, les eyzies (dordogne), and the probable age of the contained burials on the basis of the evidence of the nearby abri pataud

              THE ABRI DE CRO-MAGNON, LES EYZIES (DOR-DOGNE),
AND THE PROBABLE AGE OF THE
CONTAINED BURIALS ON THE BASIS OF THE
EVIDENCE OF THE NEARBY ABRI PATAUD
HALLAM L. MOVIUS, Ji.
in March 1868, M. ~ u r u yt,h e Minister of Pubiic Instruction,
confided to M. Louis Lartet the responsibility for the scientific
investigation of the Abri de Cro-Magnon 2. This site (Fig. l), like
al1 the other caves and rock-shelters in the Les Eyzies area, is cut
into the Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian) limestone cliff which flanks
the Véziere Valley at this point. The rock-shelter is situated imme-diately
north of what is at present the garage of the Hotel Cro-
Magnon, and it has a south-southwesterly exposure. It is located
m. 858 m. north-northwest of the village of Les Eyzies and
ca. 130 m. south-'southeast of the Les Eyzies railway station, lying
1 Son of the illustrious paleontologist, M. Edouard Lartet, excavator -of
the Grotte dlAurignac (Elsute-Garonne) and co-inve~ti~gatowr ith Mr. Henry
Christy of a series of classic &es in the Dordogne region between 1863 and
1865. 13d. Lartet died on 28 January 1871.
mr.u%a- suriiiirar-y ac~uuri tü f ihe Cr;ü-X@=üu iücaiiiy, i i s sir&igil&-+y
and the report on the results of the early excavations, which is set forth in
this W r , is based in tbe main on Louis Lartet's very clear and well orga-nized
contribution to Reliqpciae Aquitanicae (see adouard Lartet acd Henry
Christy, 1865-1875, pp. 62-72 and figs. 38-43). Severa1 of his'contemporary
paipers (Louis Lartet, 18a-a; 1868-b; 1868-c) have also been consulted.
2 H& L. MOVIUS, JR.
only a few meters north of the point where the Departmental
Route (D-47) crosses the railway tracks. The abri is ca. 15 m. above
the Védre, the low water leve1 of whioh is + 58.25 m., and 177 m.
distant therefrom. On the top of the cliff, at the foot of which the
site occurs, there is a vertically-standing protrusion that roughly
resembles an enormous mushroom. The original overhang, which
formerly had a thickness of 5.00 m., extended out ca. 8.00 m. from
the cliff covering an area roughly 17.00 m. long in north-south
extent, but it disappeared a good many years ago. Indeed there
no longer exist even any traces of the original deposits; the only
item of interest in the abri itself is a commemorative plaque instal-led
on the occasion of the Centennial of the discovery of (30-
Magnon Man (Baker, 1968).
The Abri de Cro-Magnon was discovered after the construc-tion
of the raillway embankment had necessitated the removal of
much of the talus and of a gigantic limestone block (ca. 310 m.3),
as 'well asl the removal of a projecting rock ledge above the talus.
Near the end of March 1868 two contractors from Les Eyzies
-MM. Édouard-Francois Bertoumeyrou (surnamed Pa,ges) and
Justin Delmares- removed still more of the talus to use in the
construction of a nearby road (compare Baker, 1969), and at a
depth of ca. 4.00 m. below the surface of the deposit they exposed
the projecting ledge forming the overhang of the abri. Digging
further below this feature, the two local men came upon worked
flints, animal bones and human burials. Recognizing the inevitable
importance of the latter, they ceased work and mote to M. A b l
Laganne, ~who was in Bordeaux at the time. When the latter re-tim-
nd, he exhurnel W0 skidls and nther fra-ments of a human
burial, as well as some worked Reindeer bones and a series of
flint implements in the presence of MM. Galy and Simon of Péri-gueux.
It 'was at this stage of the investigations of the deposits
in the abri that M. Louis Lartet arrived and took charge of the
E C P ~ I ' C ~ .
m e vault of the shelter had a deep vertical crack in it, and
therefore at the outset M. Lartet decided to install a supporting
pillar. In digging the hole for the foundation of this pillar, four
dark levels of ashes (presumabl~C ouches B, D, F and H, cf. sec-
324 ANUARIO DE ESTUDIOS ATLANTICOS
THE ABRI DE CRO-MAGNON, LES EYZIES.. . 3
tion below) were identified lying one above the other (Figs. 2 and
4). In the lowest of these (Couche B) the stump of a tusk of a
h!hmmoth came to light. Once the pillar had been installed, the
various levels lwere each carefully excavated in turn. Of interest
is the fact that these increase in thickness from below upard.
From top to base the section as given by L. Laxtet (1868-a, Fig. 5 ;
1868-b; 1868-c; 1865-1875, Fig. 41 and pp. 67-68) is as follows:
COUCHE DESCRIPTION
L Talus deiposits over the abri and partly
within it : sterile.
K Calcareous debris. This yielded al1 the
human skeletal material at the rear of
the shelter 3 except the "Old Man"; also
worked flints mixed with broken animal
bones.
J Limited extent of ash, only traces of which
were actually seen by L. Lartet.
1 Yellow calcareous debris containing cla'y-sized
particles. This deposit yielded
flints, bone tools, amulets, pendants and
animal bones.
H Black ashy couche; the most extensive and
thickest horizon. Basin-shaped hearth at
center cut into the underlying couche.
This was the richest leve1 in flints, bone
tools, nuclei, quartz pebbles, charcoal
and animal lbones. L. Lartet states that
apparently it represented a longer occu-
@ion of the site than any of the other
couches.
,G Greasy red earth with bones and objects
tchat were similar to, but fewer than
those of the overlying Couche F.
THICKNESS
Thickness not given.
Estimate: cai. 2.00 m.
of deposit from sur-face
of K to base
Of B.
5 cm.
Thickness not given.
Thickness varied from
10 cm. to 60 cm.;
average: 30 cm.
30 cm.
3 Ilie human skeletons, together with the burial accessories, were found
in a. small area in a hollow at the very baok of the abri. Stratigraphically
thgr were lying at the depth of Couche J where this feature was absent.
m~..-u-Cc---r c r u l e i, t is eq~ai iy~ ü i ~ e icüt a'aie üii fiey were eitner in me basai
portion of IC or in the upper part of 1, since Couche J, which was only 5 cm.
thick, separated these two deposits (flg. 3).
4 H A W L. MOVIUS, JR.
COUCHE DESCRIPTION THICKNESS
F Carbonaceous hearth lwel which did not 20 cm.
extend to the rear wall of the, abri. An
extensive hearth in this couche had red-dened
the surface of the underlying Cou-che
E. Contained worked fiints (mostly
scrapers) , bone tools, nuclei, quartz o+ granite) pebbles, charca1 (abund.) ,
broken and burnt bones.
E Fragments of fallen limestone debris red- 50 cm.
dened by fire under the heartñ. Sterile.
U Eeartn ievei containing charcoai, worked iii cm.
flints, bone and burned bone.
C Limestone debris fallen from the roof. 25 cm.
Sterile.
B Basa1 hearth leve1 containing blackish a&, 5 cm. to 15 Cm.
broken bones, burnt bones, and s rportion
of a Mammoth tusk.
A Talus deposit overlying bed-rock @se not over 70 cm.
reached) .
Large- and medium-sized limestone blocks were scattered
throughout the deposits, and L. h r t e t (1865-1875, p. 71) states
that it was necessary to use gunpmder to break up and remove
some of the largest of them. But apparently no breakage or damage
to either the skeletons or the archaeological material resulted
from these explosions. Indeed, since there is no specific statement
in any of the reports that appear in either Reliquiue Apitanicae
or in any of the other contemporary publications describing the
actual discovery of any of the burials, one can only conclude that
they had ali been found and removed prior to M. Louis Lartet's
arrivai at 'Les Eyzies. Gr. Paui Bruca (3368-a; i&%-"u 1865-18'75,
pp. 97-102) describes five adult skeletons plus "several" infants
(compare also Vallois and Billy, 1965, p. 269; Vallois, in Vallois
and Movius, 1952, pp. 74-75) One fact seems to be certain: all
and No. 4, fragments of two adult skulls. de Quatrefages and Hamy (1874-a;
326 ANUARIO DE ESTUDIOS ATLdNTICOa
S-W 1
, .
i j
N-W S-E
N - F
Fig. 4
8 HALLAM L. MOVIUS, JR.
of them were found together in a relatively small area in a depres-sion
or hollow at the very rear of the abri on approximately the
stratigraphic horizon of Couche J, the uppermost of six occupation
levels at the Abri de Cro-Magnon. Furthermore, it is stated that
the skull of the "Old Man" Iwas resting on the surface of the
deposits in a nearby hollm which had not been filled up by the
talus deposit (Couche K), and that since it had been exposed to
the calcareous drip from the roof, a stalamitic coating had been
formed on some of the exposed parts. The hnes of the four other
adults iwere lying within a radius of 1.50 m. of the "Old Man" in
the upper zone of the talus deposits. On the "Old Man's" left was
the skeleton of a rfemale lwhose skull exhibits a deep wound in
f+od that was eer,si&r& t= haie I.,eez mg& by a c&tinm indrii- a ------ -
ment. By her side lay the remains of an infant twhich had not
reached its full development. The other three skulls al1 seem to
have been males.
Among the human remains lay some 300 marine shells, each
af *hich had L-r; ijierc& ;.*.th a h& (cempur~ R~l@g&
tankae, 1865-1875, B-P1. XI). The most numerous species (LZtto-rina
Zittorea, the common peri'winkle, together with Purpra Za-pillus,
Turritellu cmmunis (= T. cornea) and Fusus Jeffreysianus
(= F. Islandicus), al1 abound today on the coasts of Aquitania
and Poitou, according to mscher (1876, p. 483), who suggests that
they were probably used as elements of necklaces, bracelets or
other ornamental attire. In this same general area numerous frag-
1874-b; 1882, pp. 44-52), who established the "Race de Cro-Magnon" based
on their study of the human remains from this site, considered that specimen
No. 4 represented single individual, and hence they gwe four as the total.
Other authorities, however, record various figures, For instance Dr. Vallois
and Mme. Billy (1965, p. 53)' state that on his arrival, Louis Lartet was told
by the local workers that ai total of fifteen skeletons and one faetus had been
found! On the other hand, E. Cartailhac (1886, p. 401; 1889, pp. 105-108), who
visited the Abri de Cro-Magnon in 1869, correctly states that five skeletons
were discovered there, while Gabriel de Mortillet (1868, p. 460) records the
interesting fact that seven skeletons were found of which only three were
saved. The figures &ven by le Marquis de Nadaillac (1891, pp. 177-181) are
likewise inconsistent with those of the original exoavator; he states that the
workmen actualiy found ftve burials, but that Louis Lartet couid only preserve
three of them.
330 . . ANUARIO DE ESTUDIOS ATLANTICOS
THE ABRI DE CRO-MAGNON, LES EYZIES.. . 9
ments of hematite, or red ochre, occurred, and superficial red
stains were noted on one of the male skulls and femora. Not far
from the skeletons, oval-shaped pendant, or amulet of ivory that
was flat and pierced with two holes; two other even smaller exam-ples,
one found by M. Laganne and one found by a local schoolboy,
were recovered in the same general area of the deposits. Also near
the skeletons there were severa1 perforated teeth, at least one of
whioh is the incisor of a Bovid, and a large block of gneiss that
presented a smooth surface due to the fact that it had been split.
In addition, there were numerous worked flints, as well as severa1
cut Reindeer antlers.
The fauna recovemd during the excavations was studied by
M. IEdouard Lartet (1868-a; 1868-b; 1865-1875, pp. 93-96 and 182).
He lists the follming fifteen species of Mammals:
U r m (of large size).
F e b m e b u .
Canis lupus.
Canis vulpes.
Can& 8p.
8p'permophilus sp.
Lepus sp. timidus.
Lepus sp. cuniculw.
Very few details are available
Elephas pridgenius.
Sus scrofa.
Equus caballus (very abundant) .
Cems ehphua.
Ramgifer taranüus (abundant).
Bovidae (Bos or Bison).
Capra ibex 6.
and one species of Bird.
concerning the flint implements
found during the original excavations at th< Abri de ~ r o - ~ a ~ n o n
(compare T. Rupert Jones, 1865-1875, pp. 82-88: A-Pls. XIX
and XX). They are stated to resemble those from the Abri Lartet
in the nearby Gorge d'Enfer, an Aurignacian 1 locality (de Son-neville-
Bordes and Perrot, 1953, pp. 328 and 330; de Sonneville-
Bordes, 1960, pp. 68-70), and this is further confirmed by the fact
that a typical cleft-base bone point was recovered at the Abri de
Cro-Mapon by Louis Lartet (Reliquiae Aqwitanicae, 1865-1875,
B-Pl. MI, F'igs. 2a and 2b). There is also one flattish segment of
antler (Ibid., B-Pl. MI, Fig. 10) with numerous notches along both
5 In addition to the ame, Dr. Jean Bouchud (1965, p. 32) states that
remains of the Blue Fox (Vulpes íagogus) were very probably found in Cou-che
K, the leve1 which contained the human burials.
' 10 HALLAM L. MOVIUS, JR.
sides ("marques de chasse") wchich recalls specimens found in
Couche 8 (Intermediate Aurignacian) at the Abri Pataud (unpu-blished).
But not a single art object came to light.
Severa1 people have conducted excavations of unequal interest
at the Abri de Cro-Magnon on various occasions in different sec-tors
of the deposits. In 1869 and again in 1873 M. Élie Massénat,
who lwas a confirmed supporter of M. Gabriel de Mortillet's classi-ficatory
system (Massénat, 1869; 1877), dug in the eastern sector
of the deposits in front of the site and claimed to have found a
Solutrean laurel-leaf point bhere underlying the Aurignacian depo-sits.
Subsequent to Massénat's death, Dr. Paul Girod, also a be-liever
in the de Mortillet "system", published a full description of
;Yh&rLcaollie'&s iori (=ir&, 1Jc$, w. 21-23 & and zs.2 5-
48 & 99-100) in connection with his false claim that the Solutrean
was older than the Aurignacian at this and other classic sites in
Southwestern Franoe. Later in 1893 M. Émile Riviere (1894,
pp. 717-718; 1897, 1906, p. 777) opened a trench in the western
portion of the sheiier, and he founcl biades wiiii 'rieavy margina:
("Aurignacian"-type) retouch, carinate scrapers, two cleft-base
bone points, a fragment of a bone awl, a bone with lateral notches
("marques de chasse") and various other bone objects, the most
interesting of whioh was a Horse incisor pierced with a hole for
suspension near the end of the root and covered over its entire
length on the lingual surface and most of its lateral and exterior
surfaces as far as the enamel by regularly spaced, parallel cuts
(Riviere, 1894, p. 718, P1. X, Fig. 30). In 1894 and in 1897 M. Gas-ton
Berthoumeyrou (dit Pages), a cousin of the discoverer, who
6 Actually two pieces were subsequently found, both allegedly at the
kbri de Cro-Magnon. One of these, called "La Feinme de Cro-Magnon", was
recovered in 1897 by M. Gaston Berthoumeyrou and aquired by MM. Eaux
and Feyolle soon afterwards for the Mude du Périgord in Péri,gueux (Ri-vhere,
lRY7, p. 507; Féaux, 1902, p. 416). The second example, a bone with
an outline drswving of a Bimn on it, was acquired by Emile RiviBre (1906,
pp. 777-778)' and recently sold to a Dr. Molle, who comes from Neuchatel,
Switzerland (cf. Eittard, 1962). Both of these objects are regarded as suspect
(compare Rivi&re, 1906; Reina&, 1913, p. 62); certainly neither of them can
be considered as ;being of Aurignacian age. Possllbly they could have come
from some sort of an Upper Périgordilan horizon in the vicinity.
332 ANUARIO DE ESTUDIOS ATLANTICOB
THE ABRI DE CRO-MAGNON, LES EYZIES.. . 11
was the proprietor of the site, also dug in this same area, but the
results of his 'work were never published. Later, according to
M. le Capitaine Bourlon (1907, p. 262), M. Berthoumeyrou under-took
new excavations in the rernaining upper levels of this cele-brated
locality. In addition to a series of retouched blades and
carinate scrapers, he found several burins busqués (cf. Bourlon,
1911, Fig. 2, no. 15 and Fig. 4, no. 9) and a thick fragment of long
bone with a shalloiw depression at one end, which had resulted
from interne and continued hammering made at or near the same
spot. He states that there were traces of "shock marks" around
the depression and concludes that this bone had served as a ham-mer
rather than as an anvil, as in the case of those discovered by
Dr. Eenri-Martin at the weii-known Mousterian site of La Quina
(Charente). This lwas also the conclusion arrived at by M. Louis
Giraux (1907), who also found similar pieces during his brief exca-vations
at about this same time at the Abri de Cro-Magnon.
In 1897 with the authorization of the Berthoumeyrou family
the Abbé Henri Breuil (1907, pp. 209-219) conducted a small exca-vation
at the site. These investigations apparently continued on
an intermittent basis for severa1 years, and in 1905 Breuil was
joined by M. Denis Peyrony, who states he continued digging there
after Breuil had left (Peyrony, 1907). This work was located se-vera1
meters from the trench dug by Emile RiviGre some years
before and near the area lwhere the famous skeletons were disco-vered.
Actually the trench was between the pillar constructed by
M. Louis k r t e t and the rear lwall of the shelter. Here the cmche
sqériacre (Lartet's Couohe J) had virtually disappeared, and the
couche inférieure (Lartet's Couche B), which extended the entire
length of the abri (even stated to follow the undulations of the
terrain) , was between 5 cm. and 20 cm. thick (Breuil, 1907, p. 214 ;
Peyrony, 1907, p. 183). The tools recovered included no Solutrean
fnrmo nn+rxr;+ho+nnA;nrr +hn Cnn+no+;n nln;mci nP ññnamánn+ f1QRQ.
IUIIIIU, I I U I V V I I I I U ~ ~ L L U L I ILIG ~ a u l i a i u i ~~bL ~ I X L WV I A V L ~ U U ~ I I ~ I( LUVU,
1877) and Girod (1906) mentioned above. Only Aurignacian types
were found, as Breuil (1909, pp. 245-248) has clearly stated. The
assemblage brought to light consisted of strangled (or notched)
blades, a large number of carinate scrapers, blades with heavy
marginal ("Aurignacian"-type) retouch on one or both sides, single
12 IXALLAM L. MOVIUS, JR.
and double endscrapers, many of ~which were on retouched blades,
a few rare burins, parallel grooves, nuclei, hamrner-stones, etc.
Two years later, D. Peyrony (1969, p. 161, F'tn. 1) recalled having
found a fragment of a batan-de-commandement in the cowhe inf é-rieure
at the Abri de Cro-Magnon similar to the ones from the
Aurignacian 1 levels at the Abri du Poisson (Peyrony, 1932, p. 252,
Fig. 4, no. 4), the Abri Castanet 1 (Peyrony, 1935, p. 430, Fig. 11,
nos. 1-3), the Abri Blanchard (Didon, 1911, pp. 253-254 and
Pls. 111 & IV), and elsewhere in the Dordogne. Although no cleft-base
bone points lwere collected by either Breuil or Peyrony
during the course of their research at the Abri de Cro-Magnon,
M. Peyrony (1949, p. 27) assigns the site to the Aurignacian 1, a
conclusion with which the present writer is in complete agreement
in so far as the middle and lolwer levels are concerned. But what
about the upper levels?
The Bourlon Collection, which was acquired from M. Gaston
Berthoumeyrou, is now in the Institut de Paléontologie Humaine
in Paris, 2nd the hc!k ~f thk materil! lwa foirnd in ihst has been
described as the m h e supéneure, or the "grand foyer1' (Cou-che
H). It lwas studied by Mme. de Sonneville-Bordes (1960, pp. 72-
73 and Fig. 34). On the basis of the occurrence of very typical
burins busqués (op. cit., Fig. 34, nos. 7, 8 and 9) and grattoirs a
museau (op. cit., F'ig. 34, no. 6), she concludes that the assemblage
in question corresponds to an Aurignacian 11, a fact which she
had previously suspected (de Sonneville-Bordes, 1959, p. 26). Ori
this basis, the cwhes inférieures cCouches B, D and F) can with
reasonable confidente be attributed to the Aurignacian 1, whereas
the "yrtwd fwym" (C;Yuche II) u!r??est ce&iin!y hP!nngs t~ +he
Aurignacian 11. Therefore, we agree that Couche J, the leve1 with
which the skeletons correspond, cannot ;be attributed to an early
phase of the Aurignacian (1 sensu hto) , but very definitel~ra ther
to an "evolved" Aurignacian (a late phase of Aurignacian II), or
PY~SI;~ evex t= a: b r i ~ ~ u c i z , n , in ~ . f i@> ~ cf its =kratig-r -nrn-h-i-r-position
overlying four other Aurignacian horizons.
7 Peyrony (1907, p. 183) records the interesting fact that, in a crate of
unwashed archaeological material recovered by M. Berthounieyrou at the
Abri de Cro-Magnon, Breuil found the base of a lozenge-chaped bone point.
334 ANUARIO DE ESTUDIOS ATLANTICOB
THE ABRI DE CRO-MAGNON, LES EYZIES.. .
DATING EVEDENCE
No longer is it necessary to turn to the Grand Abri de la
F'errassie (Commune de Savignac-le-Bugue) ca. 6 km. west of Les
Eyzies and 3.5 km. northwest of Le Bugue, excavated by Dr. L. Ca-pitan
and M. Denis Peyrony (Peyrony, 1934), to find a site that
has yielded a long sequence of Aurignacian occupations to com-pare
with the Cro-Magnon deposits. For at the Abri Pataud, less
than 200 meters on Departmental Route D-47 immediately south
of the raiPway crossing in front of the Hhtel Cro-Magnon one finds
that a sequence consisting of nine successive Aurignacian occu-pi
ions has recor&d (~v~oviu1s9,6 5; 19663, in so far as iiie
latter are concerned, the stratigraphy of that vast site is as
f o l l~w:s
Couche 6 .................... 10 cm. to 20 cm. "Evolved" Aurignacian (Pos-s
i ~ ym or IV).
Eboulis 6-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 cm. to 40 cm.
Couche 7 .................... 25 cm. to 30 cm. Intermediate Aurignacian (b)
(Leve1 with flattened, lo-zenge-
shaped, uncleft bone
points; Burins busques are
abundant) .
Eboulis 7-8 ............ 10 cm. up to 30 cm.
Couche 8 .................... 35 cm. to 40 cm. Intermediate Aurignacian (a)
(Lamelles Dufour; Burins
buslqués very mre) .
Gboulis 8-9 . . . . . . . . . . . . ca. 10 cm.
Couche 9 .................... 5 cm. to 10 cm. Early Aurignacian (?). A
very temporary occupation,
only 32 catalogued pieces.
Eboulis 9-10 ........... 10 cm. to 12 cm.
"-.--L.. .. ~uutirirí 1" .................. a mi. io iO CX. Eai-ly AUi.igii&~i&ii í?). A
r very temporary occupation,
only 50 catalogued pieces.
Ebouiis 10-11 ......... 30 cm. (average).
Couche 11 .................. 15 cm. to 35 cm. Early Aurignacian (Le ve 1
with cleft-base bone points) .
Eboulis 11-12 ......... 30 cm. (maximum thickness).
Couche 12 .................. 5 cm. to 15 cm. Basa1 Aurignacian, 160 cata
logued pieces.
Bboulis 12-13 ......... 25 cm. (average).
Couche 13 .................. 6 cm. to wer 20 cm. Basal Aurignacian, 57 cata.
Iogued pleces.
Eboulis 13-14 ......... 10 cm. to 18 cm.
Couche 14 .................. 12 cm. to 25 cm. Basa1 Aurlgmcian, 290 cat.a-l
w e d pieces.
Basa1 Eboulis ......... 1.80 meters.
Bed-Rock ............... Upper Cretaceous (Conician) limestone.
The archaeological assemblag~sf rnm 'he nine (9) ~cr.lqation
levels listed above is now (i. e. as of the summer of 1969) being
studied by Miss Alison Brooks, ,who is preparing her Ph. D. dis-sertation
on the materials in question. In the meantime, radio-carbon
dates fo-r four of them, with the exception of Couches 13,
10, 9, 8 and 6, have been published by Drs. J. C. Vogel and H. T.
Waterbolk 1(1967, pp. 114-116), and their results may !be sum-marized
as follolws from the base of the deposits (Couche 14)
upward to Couche 7.
COUCHE 14: Basa2 Aurr.ignacian.-For this horizon, the oldest
occupation at the Abri Pataud, there are three dates from two
samples, one of burnt and one of unburnt bone:
GrN-4610: 33,300 B. P. t 760 B. P. (31,350 B. C.)
GrN-4507 : 34,250 B. P. & 6715 B. P. (32,300 B. C.)
GrN-4720: 33,330 B. P. .F 410 B. P. (31,380 B. C.)
Certainly these dates are very close to each other, in fact they
are within the limits of the statistical error. Vogel and Waterhlk
(l96?, p. 116) u~c epIt centm! VI!IP ef 34,WO R. P. (= 32,033 R. C.)
as the approximate age of this, the earliest, leve1 at the Abri
Pataud.
COUCHE 12: Bmal Au&gnaciarc.-There are again three dates
for this horizon, and they are based on two samples, one of burnt
and one of unburnt bone. One of the dates 4rN-4310: 31,000
336 ANUARIO DE ESTUDIOS ATLANTICOS
THE ABRI DE CRO-MAGNON, LES EYZIES.. . 15
k 500 B. P. (= 29,050 B. C.)- is obviously too young and need
not !he considered further. This leaves the following two figures:
GrN-4327: 33,000 B.. P. -+ 500 (31,050 B. C.), burnt bone
GrN-4719: 33,260 B. P. If-: 425 (31,310 B. C.), unburnt bone
These figures are in very satisfactory agreement with each
other and may be considered reliable.
COUCHE11 : Ear@ Aurignacian (= Aurignacian 1 of Peyrony) .
Here only one of a number of samples of burnt bone has been
measured, and it gave the following dates for both fractions, the
extract and the residue :
GrN-4326: 32,000 B. P. $; 800 (30,050 B. C.)
GrN-4309: 32,600 B. P. 2550 (30,650 B. C.)
Although Vogel and Waterbolk (1967, p. 116) accept a central
figure of ea. 33,000 B. P. (= 31,050 B. C.) for both Couche 12 and
Couche 11, it is evident on the basis of the stratigraphy that
Couche 12 must be slightly older than 33,000 and Couche 11 must
be slightly younger. The conclusion is that the two occupations
in question 'were close together in time, and that (2-14 was unable
to separate them successfully.
COUCHE7 : Intemnediate Aurignacian (b) (= Aurignacian 11 of
Peyrony).-Two series of dates are avaiIal.de for this level, and
the contradictory evidence presented by them has been discussed
elsewhere (Movius, 1963, pp. 134-135). The final corrected dates
as published by Vogel and Waterbolk (1967, pp. 114-115) are given
'belaw. Al1 three of them are from the same sample, a lump of fine
homogeneous charcoal :
GrN-3105: 29,300 B. P. $: 450 (27,350 B. C.)
GrN-3117: 32,800 E. P. + 450 (30,850 B. C.)
GrN-3116 : 3 2 , F B. P. +- 700 (30,950 B. C.)
Vogel and Waterbolk emphatically state that GrN-3105 is
obviously too young and need not be considered further. This
16 HALLAM L. MOVIUS, JR.
means that the age of Couche 7 on the basis of C-14 determinations
is 32,800 B. P. or 30,850 B. C.
Such an early dating for the Intermediate Aurignacían is
somewhat at variance with the G14 dates for other Early and
Intermediate Aurignacian sites in France, among which one may
cite the following :
1. La Quilza (Gardes, Charente), one date (Vogel and Waterbolk,
1963, p. 165) for an horizon referred to the "Aurignacian 1" :
GrN-1493: 31,400 B. P. +- 3'50 (29,450 B. C.)
a
2. Les Cottés (Saint-Pierre-de-Maillé, Vienne), three dates (Vogel
E and TVuterbdk, 1967, p. 111) for an "hrignacian 1" level:
O
n
GrN-4258: 30,800 B. P. t 500 (28,850 B. C.) - m
O
GrN-4509: 31,200 B. P. & 410 (29,250 B. C.) E
E
GrN-4296: 31,000 B. P. & 320 (29,050 B. C.) S
E
a0. Gmtte Í& Reme (A-cy-súr-Gire,E Tenm), m e dute (V~ge!a nd
Waterbolk, 1963, p. 166) for an "evolved Aurignacian 1" (or ? -
0 an Aurignacian 11) level: m
GrN-1717: 30,800 E. P. t 250 (28,850 B. C.)
n
E 4. Abri Curnimxk (La Canéda, Dordogne), one date (Vogel and -
a
Waterbolk, 1963, p. 166) for an "evolved Aurignacian 1" n
n horizon : n
GrN-1491: 29,100 B. P. + 30.0 (27,150 B. C.) O
Unfortunately this sample was small and contained only suffi-cient
carbon for a single measurement.
Other dates for La Rochette (Saint-Léon-sur-Védre, Dordogne)
arid thr Ahri dc Fwtor (firsac; brdogne) have been published
by Vogel and Waterbolk (1967, p. 113) and by Coursaget and Le
Run (1966, p. 131), both for Aurignacian 1 levels, but they have
given such low figures that one can only conclude that they are
too young and should not be considered further.
338 ANUARIO DE ESTUDI,OB ATLANTZCOS
THE ABRI DE CRO-MAGNON, LES EYZIES.. . 17
COUCHE6 : "EIIoZved)' AurignacZan (Possibly Aurignacian 111
or IV of Peyrony1.-No samples from this horizon have yet been
measured. It is the uppennost unit of the so-called Cycle 1 deposits
at the Abri Pataud, which were al1 accumulated rapidly under the
conditions of a cold and fairly rigorous climate. On the ,hsis of
the figures given above, however, it is very unlikely that this occu-pation
is younger than ca. 30,000 B. P. (= 28,050 B. C.).
It is obviously very regrettable that not a single reliably docu-mented
collection of archaeological material from any single one
of the Iive hearth levels recorded by h u i s Lartet at the Abri de
Cro-Magnon has been preserved, but until the late 1920's no one
ever suspected that the Aurignacian actually consisted of a series
of developmental stages rather than a single discrete unit. One
assumes that the collection acquired by Bourlon from M. Gaston
Berthoumeyro.;l, which is now preserved at the Institut de Paléon-tologie
Humaine, *was collected in the "grand foyer" (Couche H)
and that Mme. de Sonneville Bordes' conclusion that it apparently
belongs to an Aurignacian 11 is substantially correct. In any case,
by analogy with the nearby Abri Pataud sequence this suggests
correlation with (Couche 7 for which a C-14 date of ca. 32,800 P. P.
- -t- 450 (e30 ,850 B. C.) has been determined. If one accepts our
estimate of ca. 30,000 B. P. (= 28,050 B. C.) for Couche 6 ("Evol-ved"
Aurignacian), this should also be the approximate date of
the Cro-Magnon burials within reasonable limits. But this is not
the most surprising result of the Abri Pataud C-14 determina-tions:
the fact that the total time-span of the Aurignacian deve-lopment
in France is only of the order of 4,000 years seerns to the
present writer to be totally unexpected.
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18 HALLAM L. MOVIUS, JR.
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342 ANUARIO DE ESTUDIOS ATLANTICOB
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ANUARIO DE ESTUDIOS ATLANTICOB