Barely Scratching the Surface: An Experimental Approach to Engraved Magdalenian Plaquettes

This paper investigates the creation, utilisation, and destruction of engraved Magdalenian plaquettes through the application of actualistic experimental replication. Archaeological evidence suggests that there is a relationship between plaquettes and hearth structures, as well as engraved depiction...

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Autor principal:	Matthew Amy
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	EXARC 2020
Materias:	limestone stone working rock art fire palaeolithic france spain Museums. Collectors and collecting AM1-501 Archaeology CC1-960
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/90d39400b65d49e3b4928beda15cb21d
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:90d39400b65d49e3b4928beda15cb21d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:90d39400b65d49e3b4928beda15cb21d2021-12-01T14:42:34ZBarely Scratching the Surface: An Experimental Approach to Engraved Magdalenian Plaquettes2212-8956https://doaj.org/article/90d39400b65d49e3b4928beda15cb21d2020-02-01T00:00:00Zhttps://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10486https://doaj.org/toc/2212-8956This paper investigates the creation, utilisation, and destruction of engraved Magdalenian plaquettes through the application of actualistic experimental replication. Archaeological evidence suggests that there is a relationship between plaquettes and hearth structures, as well as engraved depictions and the destruction of the plaquettes through heating. However, this relationship between fire and plaquettes has not yet been tested using experimental archaeology. This paper focuses on understanding the relationship of the plaquettes with hearth construction, and how this stage of their object biography may relate to and inform the depictions produced. Further, the experiments presented here explored whether there was a practical benefit to utilising plaquettes in hearth construction, as well as the effects of heating within specific hearth configurations, informed by observed spatial patterning of plaquettes at Magdalenian sites. The results of these experiments showed that the stacking of plaquettes to form an oven-like hearth structure decreased fuel consumption by over 50% whilst still producing adequate directional heat. However, the heat modification exhibited on the experimental plaquettes did not match those of the archaeological examples, with very few experimental examples of cracking and colour change. The paper discusses some potential explanations for the disparity between experimental results and archaeological patterning.Matthew AmyEXARCarticlelimestonestone workingrock artfirepalaeolithicfrancespainMuseums. Collectors and collectingAM1-501ArchaeologyCC1-960ENEXARC Journal, Iss 2020/1 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	limestone stone working rock art fire palaeolithic france spain Museums. Collectors and collecting AM1-501 Archaeology CC1-960
spellingShingle	limestone stone working rock art fire palaeolithic france spain Museums. Collectors and collecting AM1-501 Archaeology CC1-960 Matthew Amy Barely Scratching the Surface: An Experimental Approach to Engraved Magdalenian Plaquettes
description	This paper investigates the creation, utilisation, and destruction of engraved Magdalenian plaquettes through the application of actualistic experimental replication. Archaeological evidence suggests that there is a relationship between plaquettes and hearth structures, as well as engraved depictions and the destruction of the plaquettes through heating. However, this relationship between fire and plaquettes has not yet been tested using experimental archaeology. This paper focuses on understanding the relationship of the plaquettes with hearth construction, and how this stage of their object biography may relate to and inform the depictions produced. Further, the experiments presented here explored whether there was a practical benefit to utilising plaquettes in hearth construction, as well as the effects of heating within specific hearth configurations, informed by observed spatial patterning of plaquettes at Magdalenian sites. The results of these experiments showed that the stacking of plaquettes to form an oven-like hearth structure decreased fuel consumption by over 50% whilst still producing adequate directional heat. However, the heat modification exhibited on the experimental plaquettes did not match those of the archaeological examples, with very few experimental examples of cracking and colour change. The paper discusses some potential explanations for the disparity between experimental results and archaeological patterning.
format	article
author	Matthew Amy
author_facet	Matthew Amy
author_sort	Matthew Amy
title	Barely Scratching the Surface: An Experimental Approach to Engraved Magdalenian Plaquettes
title_short	Barely Scratching the Surface: An Experimental Approach to Engraved Magdalenian Plaquettes
title_full	Barely Scratching the Surface: An Experimental Approach to Engraved Magdalenian Plaquettes
title_fullStr	Barely Scratching the Surface: An Experimental Approach to Engraved Magdalenian Plaquettes
title_full_unstemmed	Barely Scratching the Surface: An Experimental Approach to Engraved Magdalenian Plaquettes
title_sort	barely scratching the surface: an experimental approach to engraved magdalenian plaquettes
publisher	EXARC
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/90d39400b65d49e3b4928beda15cb21d
work_keys_str_mv	AT matthewamy barelyscratchingthesurfaceanexperimentalapproachtoengravedmagdalenianplaquettes
_version_	1718404882832031744

Barely Scratching the Surface: An Experimental Approach to Engraved Magdalenian Plaquettes

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