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This is a bâton de commandement/spear straightener/spear thrower/horse bridle found in the Dordogne region. The two main contenders for the use of this tool are as a spear straightener and as a spear thrower. To be used as a spear thrower, the spear has a leather thong attached which then goes through the hole in the baton, the baton is laid along the spear, with the thong held by the hand, and the thong is released as the spear gains momentum. |
Canecaude (Aude) - Magdalénien moyen, 14 230 ± 160 Crochet de propulseur en forme de mammouth (longueur: 8.7 cm). Le proboscidien des temps glaciaires, rarement représenté sur ce type d'objet, se reconnaît aisément à sa silhouette générale -crâne en forme de tiare, dos voûté et plongeant-, à sa trompe, dont ne subsiste que la partie préhensile, à ses membres massifs et à ses larges pieds, à ses yeux globuleux cernés de grosses paupières et à la notation du pelage ; toutefois, les défenses, assimilées à de longues cornes surprennent par leur implantation aberrante, sans doute due à la configuration du bois de renne utilisé comme support. Il faut préciser que cette grotte du versant méridional de la Montagne Noire n'a pas livré de restes de mammouth et que le renne formait 90 % du stock des espèces chassées.
Canecaude (Aude) - middle Magdalenien, 14 230 ± 160 BP. Hook of atlatl (or spear thrower) in the shape of a mammoth (length: 8.7 cm). The mammoth is seldom represented on this type of object, but is recognized easily by its general silhouette - the domed head, arched and plunging back, with its tusk, of which not all remains, with its massive legs and its broad feet, its encircled globulous eyes. It should be mentioned that this cave of the southernmost slope of the Black Mountain did not have any remains of mammoths and that reindeer formed 90 % of the hunted species.
Sculpture de mammouth sur un fragment de propulseur en bois de renne du
Magdalénien de Bruniquel (Tarn-et-Garonne). Photo H. Delporte.
Sculpture of a mammoth on part of a spear thrower, made out of reindeer antler, of Magdalenian age, from Bruniquel (Tarn-et-Garonne). Photo H. Delporte.
This appears to be the other side of a specimen in the British Museum described below, although the photo here does not show the hook inserted into the back as described for the British Museum specimen. It is worth having a look at the image on the British Museum site.
Text below adapted from
http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/goto?id=OBJ1369
From the rockshelter of Montastruc, Tarn-et-Garonne, France
Carved from a reindeer antler
Spear throwers came into use about 18 000 years ago in western Europe. They consist of a straight handle with a hook at one end. The bottom of the spear fits against the hook and the spear shaft and spear thrower handle are held together with the hook end by the shoulder. Launching the spear in this way sends it with more force and speed and across a longer distance than if it was simply thrown by hand.
The hook ends of spear throwers are frequently decorated with an animal. This example from Montastruc shows a mammoth. It is the only known example which has a hole for an eye (which probably held an insert of bone or stone). The hook is also unusual because it is an ancient repair. The original hook carved from the antler broke off and was mended by cutting a slot on the back and inserting a bone or antler replacement. The mammoth's tusks appear on each side of the handle, most of which was broken off in ancient times.
Length: 12.4 cm
An engraving of South African Hottentots trapping elephant. Other methods included driving into swampy ground, which may have been practised in East Africa a million years ago.
Photo: Man before history by John Waechter
A bâton de commandement (left) from La Madeleine in the Dordogne region, and (right) an undecorated example from the Russian Ukraine, shown here roughly at the same scale. (Note the two holes of different sizes in the left hand example. Are these different sized holes for different sized spears, or are they different sizes for purposes of a bridle? Don)
Horse bridles of a traditional type from Sardinia with wooden parts superficially resembling the prehistoric bâtons.
Yet another theory-the one that chiefly concerns us here-is that the bâtons formed the solid cheek pieces of leather or fibre harnesses that were slipped over the heads of horses or reindeer. In practical terms, such a use is quite convincing, for exactly similar antler pieces were traditionally employed in Sardinia for controlling horses through pressure exerted on the muzzle. Similarly, the Samoyeds of Siberia exercised some sort of control over the domesticated reindeer that pulled their sledges by tugging at the reins joined to simple head collars through the holes in pierced antler staves. Despite the feasibility of the bridle theory, there is no obvious reason why we should prefer it to any of the other ingenious ideas advanced to account for the bâtons; indeed, to accept it would mean adopting the unconventional view that horses or reindeer were domesticated by Paleolithic hunters.
Some fascinating and ambiguous evidence provides unexpected support for the bridle theory, however. Like most of the early antiquarians who had excavated in the Ice Age caves, Édouard Piette for many years regarded the horse and reindeer bones he recovered as simply representing the remains of wild animals brought down by traditional hunting methods. In 1889, however, he startled the prehistorians assembled at an international congress by delivering an address on "The Question of Reindeer Domestication," in which he maintained that the high achievements of the Paleolithic engravers and toolmakers must be the product of a stable, sedentary society, based on an economy of domesticated animals. What had changed his mind? Piette explained that he had found several carvings at Mas d'Azil where the horses have a noseband. The semi-domestication of these animals is thus well established. Nothing proves that man harnessed them, nor made them pull loads, nor gave milk, but why should they not have raised them in herds and have known how to lead them?'
Piette's views, stated modestly enough at the conference, became increasingly fervent as the years passed and as more of the curious "cut-out" carved horse heads came to light. The climax came in 1893, when an engraved bone piece was discovered in the cave of St. Michel d'Arudy, situated, like Piette's famous site at Le Mas d'Azil, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. (Photo at left) This spirited carving shows a horse head oddly divided up into panels, with an abstract row of chevrons partly covering the lower cheek. This, for Piette, was incontrovertible evidence for the existence of head collars and the final proof of his domestication theory. His views, however, awoke bitter and at times unreasonable opposition among the leading prehistorians of the day. Even the youthful Abbé Breuil, who considered the problem at length, eventually changed his mind and decided against the reality of the bridles. He examined the entire range of engraved bone silhouettes and supported the idea that the curious lines and panels carved on the horse muzzles represented stylized impressions of their coat markings or muscular structure. Because the weight of contemporary archaeological opinion fell against his theories, Piette's views were largely ignored in the years following his death in 1906.
Reconsidering the problem of the bone horse heads today, it must be admitted that there is a considerable variety in these depictions, whatever their inspiration. Some bear no traces at all of the supposed bridles, while the clarity and detail with which the "cheek pieces" and "nose bands" appear on the other silhouettes vary considerably. One of the most delicate of the engravings was found lying on the surface of a cave floor near Arudy in 1975, only a few hundred meters from the site of the 1893 discovery. This new chance find has shaded lines and panels in exactly the same positions as on the St. Michel muzzle, although they are depicted much more faintly and certainly could pass as indications of the natural horse hair. Because of the peculiar, stiff style in which all the Pyrenean profiles are carved, a question mark will always hang over the exact significance of the patterns on their muzzles.
All the images on the right come from Le Mas d'Azil except Lortet at the top and the 1975 discovery at Espalungue, Arudy at the bottom.
Shown is a carved stone from La Marche, Vienne, Western France, showing a horse head with numerous lines engraved over it, including some that closely resemble the outline of a halter.
Carving from La Madeleine in the Dordogne that probably served as the weighted end of a spear thrower. Note the peculiar bridle pattern on the muzzle. This is a good argument against similar patterns on horses being representations of halters.
A Pazyryk horseman, circa 300 BC.
The Pazyryk (Russian: Пазарык) is the name of an ancient nomadic people who lived in the Altai Mountains lying in Siberian Russia south of the modern city of Novosibirsk, near the borders of China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. In this part of the Ukok Plateau, many ancient Bronze Age barrow-like tomb mounds of larch logs covered over by large cairns of boulders and stones have been found. These spectacular burials of the Pazyryk culture closely resemble those of the Scythian people to the west. The term kurgan, a word of Turkic origin, is generally used to describe such log-barrow burials. This archaeological site on the Ukok Plateau is included in the Golden Mountains of Altai UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Pazyryks were horse-riding pastoral nomads of the steppe and some may have accumulated great wealth through horse-trading with merchants in Persia, India and China.
Photo and text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pazyryk
Altaian is the general name for a group of Turkic peoples living in the region of the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia in the Altai Republic.
The Altaians constitute a group of related mountain peoples living beside the streams of the Altai complex of mountain ranges. This complex consists of the chief water-divide ranges, the South Altai, the Inner Altai, and the East Altai; the Mongolian Altai is connected to this mountain complex, rising to the southeast of the Siberian Altai region. The Altai system is located in the central part of southern Siberia, with Mongolia to the east and Kazakhstan to the south; it lies between 48° and 54° N and between 83° and 90° E. The mountains are of moderate elevation, with several reaching 4,500 meters; those higher than 3,000 meters are snowcapped throughout the year. The Altaians live in the broad plateaus, steppes, and valleys of the ranges.
The climate is continental, with considerable temperature swings, but is modified by the effect of the mountains, which cause a winter temperature inversion. In effect, the Altai forms an island of higher temperatures in winter than those found in the Siberian taiga to the north or in the Central Asian and Mongolian steppes to the south and east. The mean January temperature of the Chuya steppe, in the southeast of the region, is -31° C; winter temperatures fall as low as -48° C. The mountains form a nodal point for the gathering of precipitation. The main rainfall occurs in July and August, with a secondary and smaller period of rain in the late autumn. The western Altai has a mean annual rainfall of over 50 centimeters; the east is drier, receiving about 40 centimetres per year, or even less, and forms a transition to the more arid Mongolian steppe, farther east.
The Altai is rich in lakes and streams. The chief lakes of the region are Marka Kul in the south and Teletsk in the central part of the Altai region. In nearby parts of Siberia, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan there are much larger lakes: Zaysan Nur, Kara Usu, Ubsu Nur, and Kulunda. The Siberian rivers Ob, Irtysh, and Yenisei have headwaters in the Altai Mountains. The most important rivers within the Altai are the Biya, Katun, Bukhtarma, Kondoma, Ursul, Charysh, Kan, Sema, and Mayma.
Рис. 32. Уздечка из кургана No. 5, Пазырык. 5—4 вв. до н. э.
Рис. 33. Уздечка из кургана No. 5, Пазырык. V—IV вв. до н. э.
Bridles from Mound No. 5, Pazyryk, 5th - 4th Century BC
Photo and text: СКИФЫ Тамара Т. Райс, Scythians by Tamara T. Rice
My thanks to Vladimir Gorodnjanski for access to this resource.
Рис. 34. Седельные ремни с ажурными узорами из кургана No. 1, Пазырык. V в. до н. э.
Рис. 35. Седло из кургана No. 1, Пазырык. V в. до н. э.
Fig. 34. Straps with openwork designs from mound No. 1, Pazyryk. 5th century BC.
Fig. 35. Saddle from mound No. 1, Pazyryk. 5th century BC.
Excavations and the resulting archaeological materials from the south of Russia shed appreciable light on the way that Scythians harnessed and decorated their horses. However the earlier archaeological materials from the South of Russia were not of good enough quality to show the complete technical details.
Here in Pazyryk were unearthed complete sets of harnesses, and the method used by Altaians to equip their saddle horses, as well as showing the fine details of their equipment.
Photo and text: СКИФЫ Тамара Т. Райс, Scythians by Tamara T. Rice
My thanks to Vladimir Gorodnjanski for access to this resource.
Parts of a snaffle.
Photo: Wikipedia
Parts of a halter.
Photo: Wikipedia
The decorated head of a spade from Kostenki 1.
Photo: Archaeology of the USSR - The Palaeolithic of the USSR.
My thanks to Vladimir Gorodnjanski for access to this resource.
| Site | Avd1-I | Avd1-I | Avd2-1I | Avd2-1I | K-1 3 | K-1 3 |
| Category | Quantity | % | Quantity | % | Quantity | % |
| 1. Backed scaled knives | 744 | 27.4 | 505 | 10.3 | 603 | 16.5 |
| 2. Shouldered points | 174 | 6.4 | 353 | 7.2 | 465 | 12.7 |
| 3. Leaf points | 23 | 0.8 | 76 | 1.5 | 91 | 2.5 |
| 4. Backed blades | 288 | 8.47 | 469 | 9.5 | 368 | 10 |
| 5. Scaled pieces | 18 | 0.6 | - | - | - | - |
| 6. Burins | 622 | 22.9 | 879 | 17.9 | 969 | 26.4 |
| 7. Scrapers | 54 | 1.9 | 56 | 1.3 | 230 | 6 |
| 8. Variant points | 35 | 1.2 | 224 | 4.5 | 61 | 1.6 |
| 9. Truncated flakes and blades | 22 | 0.8 | 58 | 1.2 | 96 | 2.6 |
| 10. Borers and drills | 19 | 0.7 | 54 | 1.1 | 41 | 1.1 |
| 11. Denticulate and notched pieces | 21 | 0.7 | 133 | 2.7 | 90 | 2.4 |
| 12. Sidescraper-like pieces | 30 | 1.1 | 42 | 0.9 | 10 | 0.3 |
| 13. Pieces and flakes with retouch | 550 | 20.7 | 1546 | 31.4 | 540 | 14.7 |
| 14. (Combined) pieces | 157 | 5.7 | 363 | 7.4 | 100 | 3 |
| 15. Variant tools | 23 | 0.8 | 164 | 3.3 | - | - |
| 16. TOTAL | 2720 | 100 | 4922 | 100 | 3664 | 100 |
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The oldest known firestone. This crystal of iron pyrite was found in a Belgian cave, and has been dated at 10 000 years ago. The deep groove is from being repeatedly struck by a piece of flint to produce sparks to light a fire in tinder. No other easily obtainable combination will produce sparks hot enough to start a fire - two flints struck together will not produce a usable spark, for instance.
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Very characteristic fossil of the late Magdalenian culture is the barbed harpoon head, with both single and double rows of barbs. These are from Le Souci, Dordogne.
Photo: G. Clark, 'The Stone Age Hunters'
Le fossile le plus caractéristique de la culture Magdalénienne tardive est le harpon à barbelure, avec une ou plusieurs rangées de 'dents'. Ceux-ci ont été trouvés au Souci, Dordogne.
Photo: G. Clark, 'The Stone Age Hunters'