Mammoth Spear Thrower
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The Mammoth spear thrower is a spear thrower in the form of a
mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus.'' They lived from the late Miocene epoch (from around 6.2 million years ago) into the Holocene until about 4,000 years ago, with mammoth species at various times inhabi ...
, discovered at the "Montastruc
rock shelter A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves (karst), which are often many miles long or wide, rock shelters are alm ...
" in Bruniquel,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. It is from the late
Magdalenian Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; ) are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years before present. It is named after the type site of Abri de la Madeleine, a ro ...
period and around 12,500 years old. It now forms part of the Christy Collection in the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
(Palart 551), and is normally on display in Room 2.Spear thrower carved as a mammoth.
British Museum 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011. Between 7 February – 26 May 2013 it was displayed in the exhibition at the British Museum ''Ice Age Art: Arrival of the Modern Mind''.Ice Age Art: Arrival of the Modern Mind
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Features

The spear thrower was carved from a reindeer antler and depicts a mammoth with a hole for an eye which probably held a bone or stone insert originally. The hook has been repaired after the antler from which it was carved broke. The tusks of the mammoth appear on each side but have mostly been lost due to damage. It is about 12 cm in length. The mammoth is produced in low-relief on both sides of the object. When it was discovered, the broken tail hook had already been repaired. This was achieved by drilling a hole through the mammoth shape, just in front of the broken hook - and inserting in another piece of antler. Spear throwers were first used in western Europe around 20,000 years ago and enabled hunters to launch spears with more force and speed than if they threw just by hand. It was common for them to be decorated with animal carvings. Other types of spear throwers include the perforated batons, which are also often decorated. An
example Example may refer to: * ''exempli gratia'' (e.g.), usually read out in English as "for example" * .example, reserved as a domain name that may not be installed as a top-level domain of the Internet ** example.com, example.net, example.org, an ...
from La Madeleine can be seen at the British Museum in Room 2.


See also

*
Prehistoric art In the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate, Prehistory, prehistorical cultures beginning somewhere in very late geological history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops writing or other met ...
* Swimming Reindeer (Palart 550) from the same site *
List of Stone Age art This is a descriptive list of Stone Age art, the period of prehistory characterised by the widespread use of stone tools. This article contains, by sheer volume of the artwork discovered, a very incomplete list of the works of the painters, sculpt ...
*
Art of the Upper Paleolithic The art of the Upper Paleolithic represents the oldest form of prehistoric art. Figurative art is present in prehistoric Europe, Europe and Prehistoric Indonesia, Southeast Asia, beginning around 50,000 years ago. Non-figurative cave paintings, c ...


References


Further reading

*Sieveking, Ann. ''A catalogue of Paleolithic art in the British Museum.'' London: British Museum Publications, 1987.


External links


Graphic of a spear thrower in use.
{{Prehistoric technology, state=expanded Prehistoric objects in the British Museum Art of the Upper Paleolithic History of hunting Ancient weapons Animals in art Sculptures in the British Museum Bone carvings Prehistoric art in France Magdalenian Spears