L'Abri Pataud, or the Pataud Shelter in English, is a prehistoric site found in the middle of the village

Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil (; oc, Las Aisiás de Taiac e Siruèlh) is a former commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Les Eyzies.Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named ...

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janu ...

, southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The site includes human remains, stone tools, and early cultural artifacts made during the

Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coin ...

, between approximately 47,000 and 17,000 years ago.

Site overview

The stratigraphic sequence at the site includes remains from the

, particularly from the

Aurignacian The Aurignacian () is an archaeological industry of the Upper Paleolithic associated with European early modern humans (EEMH) lasting from 43,000 to 26,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic developed in Europe some time after the Levant, where ...

(47,000 to 27,000 BP), the

Gravettian The Gravettian was an archaeological industry of the European Upper Paleolithic that succeeded the Aurignacian circa 33,000 years BP. It is archaeologically the last European culture many consider unified, and had mostly disappeared by 2 ...

(32,000 to 22,000 BP), and lastly from the

Solutrean The Solutrean industry is a relatively advanced flint tool-making style of the Upper Paleolithic of the Final Gravettian, from around 22,000 to 17,000 BP. Solutrean sites have been found in modern-day France, Spain and Portugal. Details ...

(22,000 to 17,000 BP). Remains include human bones, tools, and cave paintings. Hallam L Movius

The French government classified the site as an historical monument by decree on 25 June 1930, and additional shelters located nearby under the cliff further protected as of May 9, 1958. The site became the property of the museum of natural history in 1957 at the initiative of

Hallam L. Movius Hallam Leonard Movius (November 28, 1907 – May 30, 1987) was an American archaeologist most famous for his work on the Palaeolithic period. Career He was born in Newton, Massachusetts and attended Harvard College, graduating in 1930. After ...

, who had directed excavations since 1953. Movius continued to direct investigations between 1958 and 1964, aided by a team from the museum. The results of the excavations were compiled by Harvey M. Bricker, on the basis of American hypotheses regarding the site's origins. A finer reading of the stratigraphy of the site may not have been published; continuing work will help elucidate the evolution of stone tool use at the shelters themselves, and their relationship to other sites in the region.

The Venus of l'Abri Pataud

In 1958, a small carved female figure was found on a stone about tall, likely dating to approximately 21,000 years BP. According to Hallum Movius, the figure represents a comparatively young woman, "more slender and gracile than is normally the case," roughly carved, and with contours suggesting pregnancy. Movius wrote that the despite "disharmonic features, the overall proportions of the figure are both pleasing and, at first glance, symmetrical." Movius continued, "from a stylistic point of view, this figure has been rendered in the finest tradition of Upper Paleolithic art as represented by the well-known series of carvings and statuettes, collectively known as Venuses…" The figure was found following a violent storm, making its origin within the shelter difficult to know exactly.

Public access

Since 1990 the site has allowed visitors from the public. Under the direction of Henry de Lumley, assisted by Brigitte Delluc, a museum was established allowing partial views of excavations.

Bibliography

* Hallam L. Movius Jr., « The Abri Pataud Program of the French Upper Paleolithic in Retrospect », dans (en) Gordon R. Willey (dir.), Archaeological Researches in Retrospect, Cambridge, Winthrop Publishers, 1974, 296 p. () ; rééd. University Press of America, Washington, 1982 (), p. 87-116 * Hallam L. Movius Jr. (dir.), Excavations at the abri Pataud, Les Eyzies (Dordogne), Cambridge, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, coll. « American School of Prehistoric Research (ASPR) », 1975-1985 : ** vol. 1 : (en) Hallam L. Movius Jr. (dir.), Excavations at the abri Pataud, Les Eyzies (Dordogne) (no 30), 1975, 305 p. () avec des contributions d'Hallam L. Movius Jr., Sheldon Judson, William R. Farrand, Jean Bouchud, S. Peter Dance, Joakim J. Donner, Joan F. Wilson, William H. Drury, Harvey M. Bricker, Ginette Billy et Pierre Legoux ** vol. 2 : (en) Hallam L. Movius Jr., Excavations at the abri Pataud, Les Eyzies (Dordogne): Stratigraphy (no 31), 1977, 167 p. () ** vol. 3 : (en) Harvey M. Bricker (dir.) et Nicholas David, Excavations at the abri Pataud, Les Eyzies (Dordogne): The Périgordian VI (level 3) assemblage (no 34), 1984, 109 p. () ** vol. 4 : (en) Harvey M. Bricker (dir.) et Nicholas David, Excavations at the abri Pataud, Les Eyzies (Dordogne): The Noaillian (Level 4) Assemblages and the Noaillian Culture in Western Europe (no 37), 1985, 355 p. () * Brigitte Delluc et Gilles Delluc, « Un bouquetin sculpté de style solutréen dans la cave troglodytique Pataud (Les Eyzies, Dordogne) », L'Anthropologie, vol. 90, no 4, 1986, p. 603-612 * Brigitte Delluc et Gilles Delluc, L'abri Pataud aux Eyzies, Le Bugue, PLB, coll. « Fleur de lys », 1990, 16 p. () * Harvey M. Bricker (dir.), Le Paléolithique supérieur de l'abri Pataud (Dordogne) : Les fouilles de H.L. Movius Jr., Paris, Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme, coll. « Documents d'archéologie française (DAF) » (no 50), 1995, 328 p. () * Bruno Bosselin, « Contribution de l'abri Pataud à la chronologie du Gravettien français », Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, vol. 93, no 2, avril-juin 1996, p. 183-194 exte intégral* Bruno Bosselin, Le Protomagdalénien du Blot : Les industries lithiques dans le contexte culturel du Gravettien français, Liège, Université de Liège, coll. « Études et recherches archéologiques de l'université de Liège (ERAUL) » (no 64), 1997, 329 p. * Brigitte Delluc et Gilles Delluc, Visiter l'abri Pataud, Bordeaux, Sud Ouest, coll. « Visiter », 1998, 32 p. () * Dans les actes du XIVe congrès de l'Union internationale des sciences préhistoriques et protohistoriques (UISPP), à l'Université de Liège, du 2 au 8 septembre 2001 : * Laurent Chiotti, Brigitte Delluc, Gilles Delluc, Christiane Leroy-Prost, Roland Nespoulet, Marylène Patou-Mathis, Marie Perpère, Christophe Pottier, Astrid Vannoorenberghe, Carole Vercoutère, « Le Paléolithique supérieur de l'abri Pataud, Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, Dordogne, France : Nouveaux résultats », dans Secrétariat général du Congrès (dir.), Michel Dewez (dir.), Pierre Noiret (dir.) et Éric Teheux (dir.), Section 6, Le paléolithique supérieur, sessions générales et posters, Oxford, Archaeopress, coll. « British Archaeological Reports (BAR) / International Series » (no S1240), 2004, 317 p. (), p. 285-292 * Brigitte Delluc et Gilles Delluc, « L'art à l'abri Pataud, Les Eyzies, Dordogne », dans Marylise Lejeune (dir.) et Anne-Catherine Welte (dir.), L'art du Paléolithique supérieur : Actes des colloques 8.2 et 8.3, Liège, Université de Liège, coll. « Études et recherches archéologiques de l'université de Liège (ERAUL) » (no 107), 2004, 277 p., p. 87-94 * Bruno Bosselin, « Quelques précisions sur la chronologie du Gravettien français », Bulletin de la société Préhistoire du Sud-Ouest, vol. 9, no 1, 2002, p. 95-100 exte intégral* Laurent Chiotti, Les industries lithiques aurignaciennes de l'abri Pataud, Dordogne, France : Les fouilles de Hallam L. Movius Jr., Oxford, Archaeopress, coll. « British Archaeological Reports (BAR) / International Series » (no 1392), 2005, 349 p. () * Christophe Pottier, Le Gravettien moyen de l'abri Pataud (Dordogne, France), le niveau 4 et l'éboulis 3/4 : Étude technologique et typologique de l'industrie lithique, thèse pour obtenir le grade de docteur du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Département de Préhistoire, Institut de paléontologie humaine, sous la dir. d'Henry de Lumley, 7 janvier 2005, 396 {{Navbox prehistoric caves Prehistoric sites in France Archaeological sites in France

Site overview

The Venus of l'Abri Pataud

Public access

See also

Bibliography