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-An lnLerpreLaLlon of Lhe upper aleollLhlc arL-







orr M. 2010








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Caves are naLural carvlngs from whlch our ancesLors beneflLed probably slnce Lhe
end of Lhe arboreal llfe and Lhe beglnnlng of blpedallsm. LlLher for permanenL, accldenLal,
occaslonal or perlodlcal vlslLs Lhelr acLlvlLles lefL archaeologlcally deLecLlble Lraces. 1hanks
Lo Lhe naLure of caves Lhls arLefacLs are ofLen well preserved ln naLurally overlylng
sedlmenLs. WlLh careful excavaLlons we are able Lo reconsLrucL Lhls sedlmenLaLlon
processes, and mark Lhe dlfferences and slmllarlLles beLween Lhe layers. AfLer a relaLlvely
long hlsLory of cave and open slLe excavaLlon, Loday we are able Lo reconsLrucL Lhe general
evoluLlon paLh of human klnd and Lhe developmenL of our culLure.
1hroughouL LhaL paLh Lhere are several evenLs whlch by some auLhors are consldered
mllesLones" ln human evoluLlon. 1hese evenLs, regardless of Lhelr naLure, mark Lhe leap"
of human klnd from one evoluLlonary level Lo anoLher. kleln recognlzes four dlfferenL
evenLs: a) around 2,3 Ma-Lhe appearance of sLone Lools, b) 1,7 Ma-pro-modern" body
proporLlons and Lhe lnvenLlon of handaxes, c) 600 ka-rapld braln-slze growLh, d) around 30
ka-arL and Lhe fully modern ablllLy Lo lnvenL and manlpulaLe culLure" (kleln 2002). 1hls lasL
achlevemenL of manklnd, besldes elsewhere, was also documenLed ln cave slLes from
CenLral Lurope. LlLher as small flgurlnes or wall palnLlngs, Lhe earllesL arL ln Lurope was
dlscovered ln vogelherd, PohlensLeln, Pohle lels, ChauveL and oLher Aurlgnaclan slLes ln SW
Cermany and lrance. 1hls speclflc change ln culLure (as generally accepLed) marks Lhe
arrlval of Lhe flrsL anaLomlcally modern human and Lhe beglnnlng of Lhe Luropean upper
aleollLhlc. 8uL before any furLher explanaLlon of Lhe culLural meanlng of Lhese changes, a
raLher phllosophlcal dlgresslon ls necessary. MosL adequaLe seems Lhe work of a Cerman
LgypLologlsL !an Assmann on collecLlve memory and culLural ldenLlLy".


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Many auLhors have dlscussed Lhe role LhaL collecLlve memory has ln Lhe process of
generaLlng culLure and ldenLlLy (Assmann 1993, 2003 and furLher ref.). Assmann sees
collecLlve memory as a consLlLuLlon of each and every ones lndlvldual memory, developed
by Lhe process of soclallzaLlon. ln order Lo malnLaln lLs sLablllLy, Lhls memory needs Lo be
Lled Lo cerLaln maLerlal ob[ecLs called mnemonlc devlces. 1haL way Lhese forms galn
meanlng and a fuslon beLween Lhe maLerlal and Lhe absLracL ls achleved. 1hese mnemonlc
devlces become reference polnLs for Lhe collecLlve memory (Assmann 2003).
ln hls furLher elaboraLlons Assman dlsLlngulshes Lwo Lypes of collecLlve memory. 1he
flrsL one ls communlcaLlve memory. lL ls Lhe memory lnvolved ln slmple everyday
communlcaLlon, connecLed Lo slmple everyday maLLers. 1he llmlLed Lemporal horlzon
characLerlsLlc for Lhls memory moves as Llme flows and goes back ln Lhe pasL elghLy Lo a
hundred years (Lhree generaLlons) (Assmann 1993). 1he second aspecL of Lhe collecLlve
memory ls Lhe culLural. 1he culLural memory ls besL descrlbed ln Lhe followlng consLrucLlon,
whlch Assman borrows from nleLzsche: a collecLlve concepL for all knowledge LhaL dlrecLs
behavlor and experlence ln Lhe lnLeracLlve frame-work of a socleLy and one LhaL obLalns
Lhrough generaLlons ln repeaLed socleLal pracLlce and lnlLlaLlon". 1he Lemporal horlzon of
Lhe culLural memory does noL change wlLh Lhe passlng of Llme. lL has a flxed sLarLlng polnL -
falLhful evenLs from Lhe pasL whlch are engraved ln Lhe collecLlve experlence, Lhelr meanlng
crysLalllzed ln Lhe form of Lhe mnemonlc flgures, and wlLh Lhe help of Lhese flgures Lhose
evenLs are re-accesslble across mlllennla (Assmann 1993).

EEEF G(-B 30 (,-.(/0&01@
Where ls Lhe connecLlon beLween Assmann's vlew on collecLlve memory and
Aurlgnaclan maLerlal culLure (especlally lLs arL)? Slnce Lhelr flrsL dlscovery ln Lhe fourLh
decade of Lhe LwenLleLh cenLury Lhere have been many aLLempLs Lo lnLerpreL Lhe sLrange
llLLle lvory flgurlnes of large lce Age mammals, found ln vogelherd cave ln SW Cermany.
LaLer, as more dlscovered flgurlnes from oLher CenLral Luropean slLes were added Lo Lhls
assemblage, Lhe number and complexlLy of Lhelr lnLerpreLaLlons also grew (uowson and
orr 2001). l wlll presenL here Lhe vlew of MarLln orr, whlch lnLegraLes very well Lhe
Aurlgnaclan archeologlcal record from SW Cermany wlLhln Lhe phllosophlcal framework seL
by Assmann.
Pe beglns hls analyses wlLh observaLlon on Lhe Lechnologlcal process of
manufacLurlng dlfferenL elemenLs of Lhe Aurlgnaclan maLerlal culLure, from raw maLerlal
acqulslLlon Lo Lhelr dlscard ln Lhe conLexL Lhey were dlscovered by archaeologlsLs. 1aklng ln
conslderaLlon Lhe relaLlve amounL of lnvesLed efforL ln manufacLurlng an lLem and lLs
ldlosyncrasy (level of sLandardlsaLlon), orr consLrucLed a dlagram (llg.1).


llg. 1: roducLs of culLural and communlcaLlve memory ln Lhe Aurlgnaclan of souLhwesL Cermany
(orr 2010),

As a resulL, he poslLlons relaLlvely accuraLe ln Lhls dlagram all Lhe producLs reLrleved
from excavaLlons: from sLone Lools Lo flguraLlve sLaLueLLes. 1he maln ldea ls Lo connecL Lhe
producLs wlLh Lhe adequaLe collecLlve memory, dependlng on Lhelr characLerlsLlcs.
lollowlng Assmann and hls Lwo aspecLs of Lhe collecLlve memory, orr dlvldes Lhe
Aurlgnaclan producLs ln Lwo groups.
1he flrsL group of arLefacLs are Lhe mnemonlc devlces", Lhe maLerlal form of Lhe
communlcaLlve memory. As Lhe naLure of Lhe memory Lype Lhey represenL, Lhese arLefacLs
would be characLerlzed by hlgh level of sLandardlsaLlon and relaLlvely low amounL of efforL
and consclous concern lnvesLed (Lhey are producLs of everyday llfe rhyLhm). 1hey are
producLs of repeLlLlve pracLlces and derlve from subslsLlng needs. 1hls group lncludes:
Aurlgnaclan sLone Lools, reLouchers, awls and pollshers. roducLlon of lvory beads and Lhe
so called pro[ecLlle polnLs" demand relaLlvely hlgh amounL of lnvesLed efforL, buL because
of Lhelr sLunnlngly hlgh level of sLandardlsaLlon Lhey are also lncluded ln Lhls group.
1he second caLegory lncludes arLefacLs whlch are consldered as maLerlallzed culLural
memory. 1hey are all unlque whlch means Lhelr producLlon was lndlvlduallzed, Lhelr
producers were hlghly skllled men or women, who lnvesLed a loL of lnLellecLual and physlcal
efforL. 1hls group lncludes: above all Lhe lvory sLaLueLLes, few lvory baLons and some
decoraLed bone and anLler reLouchers, bone and lvory fluLe and few pendanLs and plerced
ob[ecLs. 1hese ob[ecLs (especlally Lhe sLaLueLLes) are qulLe small and probably were carrled
around all Lhe Llme by lndlvlduals. 1haL would explaln why some of Lhem are plerced and
almosL all of Lhem show clear slgns of pollsh. lurLhermore, Lhe sLaLueLLes were probably
used by resLrlcLed group of people durlng ceremonles and speclal rlLuals for perlodlcal
reconsLrucLlon of Lhe collecLlve culLural memory. Clven Lhe facL LhaL Lhese sLaLueLLes were
made of common maLerlal for Lhe perlod, and Lhe noL-so-ceremonlal way Lhey were
dlscarded, Lhe slgnlflcance of Lhese sLaLueLLes ls clearly Lhe process of Lhelr producLlon and
Lhelr Lles and usage by lndlvlduals. 1he moblle characLer of Lhe sLaLueLLes and Lhe way Lhey
were carrled around, orr connecLs wlLh Lhe early Aurlgnaclan flexlble and moblle soclal
formaLlons wlLhln a landscape wlLhouL sLrong soclal boundarles and flxed communal
locaLlons". Pe suggesLs LhaL ln Lhe followlng sLages of soclal developmenL when Lhe role of
Lhe caves as flxed communal locaLlons" was more pronounced, Lhe wall palnLlngs Look over
Lhe funcLlon of mnemonlc devlces" of culLural memory from Lhe small lvory sLaLueLLes. 1hls
sLaLemenL ls sLrongly supporLed by Lhe absence of cave palnLlngs durlng Lhe sLaLueLLes
relgn" and Lhe dlsappearance of Lhe sLaLueLLes when Lhe flrsL cave walls were palnLed (orr
2010).



8LlL8LnCLS:
- Assmann, !., and Czapllcka, !., 1993: CollecLlve memory and culLural ldenLlLy. new
Cerman CrlLlque, no. 63, CulLural PlsLory/CulLural SLudles, pp. 123-133
- Assmann, !., 2003 [1992]. !"# %&'(&)*''* +*,-./(01#2 3./)14(5 6)100*)&07 &0,
89'1(1#./* :,*0(1(-( 10 4);/*0 <9./%&'(&)*0.
- uowson, 1. A., & orr, M. (2001). Speclal ob[ecLs-speclal creaLures. ShamanlsLlc
lmagery and Lhe Aurlgnaclan arL of SouLhwesL Cermany. ln n. rlce (Ld.), 1he
archaeology of Shamanlsm (pp. 163-177).
- kleln 8C, Ldgar 8 (2002) 1he uawn of Puman CulLure (Wlley, new ?ork).
- orr, M. (2010). alaeollLhlc arL as culLural memory. A case sLudy of Lhe Aurlgnaclan
arL of SouLhwesL Cermany. Cambrldge Archaeologlcal !ournal, 20(1), 87-108.