Magdalenian

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Magdalenian

Distribution of Magdalenian sites in Europe (pink) along with those of the Epigravettian (red). Distribution of the Magdalenian in southern Britain not shown
Geographical range	Western Europe
Period	Upper Paleolithic Mesolithic
Dates	c. 17,000 – c. 12,000 BP[a]
Type site	Abri de la Madeleine
Major sites	Cave of Altamira, Kents Cavern, Lascaux
Preceded by	Solutrean
Followed by	Azilian, Ahrensburg culture

Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; French: Magdalénien) are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago.^[a] It is named after the type site of La Madeleine, a rock shelter located in the Vézère valley, commune of Tursac, in France's Dordogne department.

Édouard Lartet and Henry Christy originally termed the period L'âge du renne (the Age of the Reindeer). They conducted the first systematic excavations of the type site, publishing in 1875. The Magdalenian is associated with reindeer hunters, although Magdalenian sites contain extensive evidence for the hunting of red deer, horses, and other large mammals present in Europe toward the end of the last glacial period. The culture was geographically widespread, and later Magdalenian sites stretched from Portugal in the west to Poland in the east, and as far north as France, the Channel Islands, England, and Wales. Besides La Madeleine, the chief stations of the Magdalenian are Les Eyzies, Laugerie-Basse, and Gorges d'Enfer in the Dordogne; Grotte du Placard in Charente and others in south-west France.

Magdalenian peoples produced a wide variety of art, including figurines and cave paintings. Evidence has been found suggesting that Magdalenian peoples regularly engaged in (probably ritualistic) cannibalism along with producing skull cups.

Genetic studies indicate that the Magdalenian peoples were largely descended from earlier Western European Cro-Magnon groups like the Gravettians that were present in Western Europe over 30,000 years ago prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), who had retreated to southwestern Europe during the LGM. Madgalenian peoples were largely replaced and in some areas absorbed by Epigravettian-related groups of Villabruna/Western Hunter Gatherer ancestry at the end of the Pleistocene.

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