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Processes of change in Magdalenian societies in the Pyrenean isthmus (20–16 ky cal BP)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Mathieu Langlais
Mathieu Langlais*
Affiliation:
PACEA UMR 5199 du CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Avenue des facultés Bat. B18, F-33405 Talence, France (Email: m.langlais@pacea.u-bordeaux1.fr)
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Extract

The author uses a detailed analysis of lithic assemblages to propose a major social and economic change in the Pyrenees around 18 ky cal BC, roughly the watershed between the Lower and Middle Magdalenian periods. Nomadic groups begin to settle down, occupy loose territories, move raw materials over vast distances and specialise in manufacture for hunting and domestic use. These trends coincide with a cold period and an increase in grassland, the Heinrich Stadial.

Keywords

FranciaPyreneesUpper PalaeolithicMagdalenianlithicsHeinrich Stadial
Type
Debate
Information
Antiquity , Volume 85 , Issue 329 , September 2011 , pp. 715 - 728
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2011

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