Across Atlantic Ice

by Dennis J. Stanford

  Although the special nature of some of its flaked stone technology makes it tempting to see Solutrean as basically different from other Upper Paleolithic cultures in southwestern Europe, in terms of subsistence behavior it fits well into the general European pattern of a land-based Paleolithic hunting economy. This changed approximately 6,000 years ago, when some groups began to exploit the coastal and marine resources of the newly inundated areas of the Bay of Biscay, where many known Spanish Solutrean sites are relatively short distances (10–15 kilometers) from the ancient shoreline. Most submerged shore areas have been inaccessible to archaeological investigation, but underwater archaeological techniques have made amazing strides during the past few years, and the discovery of a French cave with a submerged entrance and rock art indicates that systematic exploration along the limestone cliffs of the northern coast of Spain and under the Bay of Biscay might be rewarding.19

  SUBSISTENCE

  The faunal remains found in Spanish Solutrean sites indicate that red deer, an animal closely related to the North American wapiti, and a small pony were the most common animals hunted by Solutrean people. Ibex, chamois, roe deer, and occasionally several types of bovines and wild pigs were also hunted, but their remains are far less numerous. In southwestern France, reindeer and horse dominate middens, but the bones of other beasts, such as bison, aurochs, musk ox, and saiga antelope, are also present in small numbers. Mammoths are represented only by ivory. Added to these remains are those of other species that were no doubt eaten but may have been killed primarily for their pelts and feathers.

  In addition to traditional terrestrial food, especially in northern Spain, the resource niche expanded to include anadromous fish species, which live in salt water but breed in freshwater, such as salmon, salmon trout, and brown trout. Enough shellfish have been found at La Riera and Altamira to indicate they made an economically significant contribution to the diet. There are also a few seal flipper bones. Straus has concluded that the seal bones are from animals that were stranded on the beach, but cave art suggests that Solutrean people hunted seals, deep-sea fish, and sea birds.20

  Although there are relatively few shellfish and other sea animal remains compared to those of terrestrial animals, remember that the Solutrean coastline is now submerged. Even if the beach were only 10–15 kilometers from sites such as La Riera, can we reasonably expect the maritime remains found in the cave site to represent the true degree of Solutrean exploitation of these resources? In an interesting study Douglas Bird found that although shellfish have been a common and dominant part of the subsistence of ocean edge people worldwide, very few of the shells or tools used to exploit the estuarine environment made it inland more than about a kilometer.21 If this is a reasonable analogue of the northern Spanish Solutrean, the presence of any number of marine shells in midden deposits at sites such as La Riera may actually represent significant maritime exploitation.

  During Solutrean times the climate deteriorated from mild and humid to drier and colder. These latter conditions lasted until near the end of the Solutrean, when there is evidence of increasing moisture. In spite of these changes most authors consider the environmental conditions of the northern Spanish coast to have supported reasonable herds of bison and deer.22

  ARTIFACTS MADE FROM PERISHABLE MATERIALS

  As far as we know no one has ever found a Solutrean spear, yet we never question that spears were part of the weaponry. Artifacts made of fiber, wood, hide, and other perishable materials probably far outnumbered the durable artifacts and possessions lost or abandoned at sites, yet it is primarily the latter that have survived through the ages and are the specimens archaeologists rely upon to make their major technological and cultural interpretations.

  Even if the perishable items have disappeared, however, all hope is not lost. Jim Adovasio, Olga Soffer, and Bohuslav Kléma have shown how careful examinations of sedimentary deposits, especially burned clays, may reveal impressions of textiles, cordage, and similar soft materials.23 They have demonstrated that various forms of basketry and textiles were present in Gravettian sites in central Europe, and they say that Solutrean and other Upper Paleolithic peoples were producing rope, some of significant diameter.24 To date, comparable evidence has not been recognized in any of the Solutrean sites or in our study area, but it is probably just a matter of time before it is. Fine fabric is not a prerequisite for boat sails, although it would be more effective than leather or plaited mats. Rope, however, is a necessity for a sailboat.

  Even without direct evidence, examinations of micro-wear on stone and bone tools will undoubtedly reveal that some were used to make textiles, baskets, and the like. Although these sorts of studies have not been done in large numbers, those that have been attempted show that Solutrean people commonly worked a wide range of materials, including wood and hide. The presumption that complex and sophisticated fiber, wood, and skin technologies were ubiquitous in southwestern Europe by Solutrean times is important to our argument that Solutrean people were capable of producing waterproof clothing and constructing ocean-worthy watercraft. We have no doubt that all of the archaeological cultures we have included in this study had rich perishable artifact assemblages.

  Some of the richest Solutrean sites have relatively well-preserved cultural deposits containing large quantities of animal bones, including delicate fish bones. It should be no surprise that bone artifacts are equally well represented. Among these are bone, ivory, and antler projectile points, foreshafts, needles, awls, knapping tools, shaft straighteners, atlatls (spear throwers), atlatl hooks, engravings, and ornaments.

  Typological studies of bone points consider cross-section form and basic shape. The most common type of bone point, called a sagaie, is a long, round to elliptical rod with a sharp pointed end and a frequently incised flat bevel end (figure 5.4a). It seems reasonable to infer that these bone points were hafted onto wooden shafts or foreshafts beveled to allow direct hafting. Other bone point forms are rare, including those with barbs. Few Solutrean bone points are ornamented, but simple engraved designs occasionally appear.

  FIGURE 5.4.

  Solutrean perishable artifacts: (a) bone projectile point (sagaie); (b) eyed bone needle; (c) self-barbed compound spear point with its assembled parts; (d) bi-pointed bone barb hafted to beveled spear shaft; (e) the flattened semi-rectangular center of the barb that provides a surface for hafting to the spear shaft.

  Sagaie were used throughout the Upper Paleolithic sequence but changed in type from their first appearance in the Aurignacian to the end of the Magdalenian. One of the major changes was an increased use of slotting on points by late Solutrean times at sites such as La Cueva de Amalda, suggesting that hunters favored bone projectile points with inset bladelets then.25 However, small numbers of bladelets in earlier deposits with unslotted bone points imply that there were alternative uses for these sharp little stone bladelets. Self-barbed bone spear points occur in some Solutrean collections (figure 5.4c–e). These are slightly curved, sharply bipointed bone or antler rods or sagaies that were flattened and scored near the mid-section of the outside curve to create a hafting plane for joining the point to the end of a shaft. This technique left both ends of the point exposed, the leading point for penetration and the trailing point as a barb to attach the prey securely to the weapon. A spear hafted in this manner was probably used for fishing or hunting in aquatic environments to retrieve the catch before it swam away or sank beneath the water.26

  The earliest small, sharply pointed, eyed needles made of bone have been found in Solutrean deposits (figure 5.4b). These finely made tools approach the size of those used by modern tailors and indicate increased sophistication in sewing by Solutrean craftspeople. We have examined several of these specimens and note that they were perforated by gouging rather than drilling. The former technique produces slightly off-round holes that may have been more effective than round perforations for use with sinew fiber. Although smaller needles are not necessary for making tailored cl
othing, this innovation would have allowed the production of waterproof garments with seams made with overlapping stitching. It is unlikely that this was the beginning of fitted clothing manufacture, for earlier people had lived through equally inclement times and no doubt had well-designed weather-resistant outfits. As with any artifact type, absence from our current collections does not mean it hadn’t been developed earlier.

  Atlatls, or spear throwers, and atlatl hooks were made from reindeer antler, and some show extensive three-dimensional representational carving. The same is true of some of the perforated items thought to have served as spear shaft straighteners. Because of their elaborate carvings, they have been interpreted as status items, and nineteenth century French scholars referred to them as bâtons de commandement (staffs of command). It is also possible that along with signaling status, specially designed weapons were believed to possess greater power to attract game.

  The introduction or development of bifacial thinning and pressure flaking techniques by Solutrean flintknappers demanded specialized flaking tools, most of which were probably fashioned from antler. Several examples of these artifacts have been recovered from Solutré. Although red deer antler, ibex horn, and even large bones could have served this purpose, reindeer antler is especially well suited for flaking tools because of its density. Furthermore, reindeer antlers were readily available in southwestern France. Excellent examples of worn-out and broken antler billets and pressure flakers found in trash middens attest to their use by Solutrean flintknappers.

  FLAKED STONE TOOLS

  There is a great deal of variation in the assemblages of flaked stone implements through both time and space during the Solutrean, and it would not surprise us if future underwater investigations revealed additional variation related to marine exploitation. We focus here on the French and northern Spanish materials and retain the French divisions of Lower, Middle, and Upper Solutrean.

  Solutrean stone tools diverge in form from the immediately preceding assemblages, and in the earliest French levels they more closely resemble late Middle Paleolithic than Upper Paleolithic tools. Rather than abruptly backed, narrow points and knives, such as those made during the Gravettian, Solutrean knappers produced wider-pointed implements with flaking across the dorsal surface and occasional flaking, at both the tip and the base, on the ventral surface. These tools are called plane face points (figure 5.5a). In addition to the variations in proportions, the type and quality of the flaking separate Solutrean products from other Paleolithic artifacts. In the Middle Solutrean there seems to be an abrupt appearance of fully developed complex bifacial thinning, seen on what are called laurel leafs (figure 5.5b–c), and an increase in the use of blades and biface thinning flakes for tool blanks. During the French Upper Solutrean, innovations such as the eyed bone needle (figure 5.4b), shouldered points (figure 5.5k), and willow leaf (figure 5.5n) appear in the tool assemblages along with an increase in retouched bladelets (figure 5.5h). These developments seem to be most pronounced in the core area of the Dordogne of southwest France, less so in peripheral areas such as the Pyrenees. Laurel leafs continue to be a common component, and it is during this time that the oversize pieces found in caches were evidently introduced.

  FIGURE 5.5.

  Solutrean stone tools: (a) plane face point; (b–c) laurel leaf points or knives; (d) Solutrean scraper; (e) end scraper on blade; (f) graver; (g) perforator; (h) retouched bladelet; (i) bifacial borer; (j) burin, with arrows showing direction of burin spall removal; (k) shouldered point; (l–m) indented base points; (n) willow leaf point.

  Generally speaking, then, through the course of the French Solutrean we see the introduction of fully bifacially thinned implements, the use of flat retouch (thinning), and end scrapers made on blades. Various other retouched implements occur, including end scrapers (figure 5.5d–e), strangulated blades (blades with opposing notches in their midsections), notches, biface flakes, perforators (figure 5.5g), bifacial borer (figure 5.5i), infrequent burins (figure 5.5j), and backed bladelets. Some of these tools are characteristic of Solutrean assemblages, including end scrapers with flaking across the dorsal face (figure 5.5d), end scrapers with corner spurs, and very fine single (figure 5.5f) and multi-tip gravers.

  Much the same inventory is present in the northern Spanish sites, except that laurel leafs are rare while indented base points are more common. Some of this variation is likely due to the differences in stone available for flaking, as there is little large flint in northern Spain suitable for laurel leaf manufacture. The relative abundance of indented base points may be related to the increased hunting of sea mammals (see discussion below).

  The northern Spanish Solutrean follows a different trajectory than the French Solutrean, with shouldered points found throughout the sequence (although not in every level), the introduction of indented base points (figure 5.5l–m), and a much lower blade component. Backed bladelets are also fairly common in later levels.

  Of particular interest in Solutrean technology is the variety of formal projectile point forms. Plane face points (figure 5.6a) were most abundant during the Lower Solutrean but continued to be made throughout Solutrean times, especially in peripheral areas. Two formal projectile point styles were introduced during the Upper Solutrean in southwestern France: the willow leaf point (figure 5.6b) and the single-shouldered point (figure 5.6c). Both of these types were made from blades and are primarily unifacial (although fully bifacial forms exist), with only the tips and bases exhibiting flaking on the ventral surface. Well-controlled diagonal pressure flaking can often be seen on these points. The archaeologists Jean-Pierre Chadelle, Jean-Michel Geneste, and Hugues Plisson have conducted extensive experiments with and analyses of shouldered points and concluded that they were projectile points, possibly used to tip arrows.27

  In northern Spain the Solutrean saw the introduction or development of indented base points (figure 5.6e) and single-shouldered points, the latter seemingly earlier than in inland France. Although the dating of the artifacts in many places is problematic, at La Riera Cave indented base points are found only in the lower levels.28 Backed bladelets (figure 5.6d) increased in abundance through time and could have been used for the production of composite inset projectile points, such as those described in Beringia. A few slotted bone points have been found in the Upper Solutrean levels in northern Spanish sites, perhaps presaging their increased popularity in the following Magdalenian period. All of these innovations may indicate the increasing use of resources along the coast of Spain. We can only wonder if there is similar evidence of Solutrean coastal site use under the sea off the current French coast.

  FIGURE 5.6.

  Solutrean projectile points and inset blade for bone projectile point: (a) plane face point; (b) willow leaf point; (c) shouldered point; (d) backed blade, inset component of a slotted bone point common in late Solutrean sites; (e) indented base point; (f) small laurel leaf.

  Exquisitely thinned bipointed bifaces, known as laurel leafs, are the most distinctive Solutrean artifact. These tools appear in a wide variety of sizes, ranging from just a few centimeters (figure 5.6f) to more than 50 centimeters in length. Most exhibit highly controlled specialized percussion thinning and pressure retouch. The scarcity of impact breaks and the presence of edge dulling on many of the medium to large specimens lead us to think that they served as knives rather than weapon tips; however, use-wear analysis is needed to verify this interpretation. Some are so large, thin, and delicately manufactured that it is hard to see how they could have served as tools.

  FIGURE 5.7.

  Casts of four of the fourteen large Solutrean laurel leaf bifaces from the Volgu Cache in France.

  Many students of the Solutrean have noted the extremes to which the bifacial thinning technology was taken. Some of the largest laurel leafs also have the smallest thickness-to-width ratios and are the most carefully made. Although we do not know of any use-wear analysis of these pieces, we think they may have been made for symbolic rather than
utilitarian purposes. Philip Smith has also suggested that the eccentric forms that occasionally appear in the Solutrean had special, perhaps ritual uses.29

  The other Solutrean tools remained much the same as in earlier times, but plane face points declined in abundance, possibly being supplanted by laurel leafs in France. That this was not the case in Spain may have more to do with the scarcity of large pieces of high-quality tool stone than with a lack of technological knowledge: local raw material is mainly medium-quality quartzite and small pieces of heavily fractured chert. The large majority of shouldered points and approximately half of the indented base points are essentially unifacial, with some flaking on the ventral surface at the tips and bases.

  The archaeologist Anthony Sinclair suggests that Solutrean bifacial thinning had a symbolic function in its representation of the skills of precision, timing, and strategic planning, required for both the manufacture of these tools and the complex hunting techniques used by the Solutrean people.30 Although complex bifacial flaking might not have been symbolic in all cultures that used it (e.g., Classic Maya), Sinclair’s idea is intriguing in this particular situation.

  Another hint that large, thin laurel leafs had special significance for the Solutrean people is their existence in caches. The best-known example is a group of fourteen extremely large laurel leafs uncovered during canal construction in 1874 near Volgu, France (figure 5.7). The exceptional size and fragility of the Volgu bifaces imply specialized manufacture, possibly for an offering rather than normal daily use. Philip Smith describes other groups of large laurel leafs, many of which may have been caches. We have also heard of some twenty caches that are not reported in the literature available to us, including one in Portugal that the archaeologist João Zhilão told us about. Little can be inferred about the purposes of these caches, because all have been encountered accidentally during construction, tilling, or uncontrolled excavation. Some cached bifaces are clearly utilitarian, probably buried as a strategic storage of raw materials, whereas others were clearly buried under special circumstances. Caching is rare to nonexistent in other Old World Upper Paleolithic cultures.