PARIETAL AND MOBILE ART OF ROC-AUX-SORCIERS ROCK SHELTER (MIDDLE MAGDALENIAN, VIENNE, FRANCE)
Authors: O. Fuentes , G. Pincon 
Published: November 2021

The rock shelter of the Roc-aux-Sorciers at Angles-sur-lAnglin (Vienne, France) is one of the archaeological reference sites for the Upper Paleolithic. The sculpted, painted and engraved frieze was gradually brought to light in its archaeological context by Susanne Cassou de Saint-Mathurin and Dorothy Garrod from 1949 onwards (Saint-Mathurin, Garrod, 1950). A wealth of archaeological material was discovered alongside the parietal art, comprising numerous works of portable art, tools made of animal bone, jewellery, etc. It was very rapidly observed that the portable art and the parietal art shared the same graphic and thematic conventions. For example, images of female bodies are rendered in high relief, in a monumental way, but also in the form of small statuettes. Our research has demonstrated the undeniable intra-site links between the portable art and the parietal art (Pinon, 2012). Here we propose to broaden this analysis within a well-identified culture of the Middle Magdalenian known as the Magdalenian of Lussac-Angles spearpoints. At the time of the discovery of the Magdalenian site of La Marche in 1937 (Vienne) (Lwoff, Pricard, 1940), some similarities had been identified between this site and that of Le Roc-aux-Sorciers, where the discoveries dated back to 1927 (Rousseau, 1933). These similarities are also perceptible in shared techniques (Chehmana, Beyries, 2010), as well as in the production of objects in hard organic materials such as the Lussac-Angles spearpoints (Pinon, 1988), the jewellery in fossil mammoth ivory (Dujardin, Pinon, 2000), the engraved horse incisors (Mazire, 2009) and the figurative art (Bourdier et al., 2016 Fuentes, 2016). We propose to further explore the links between these two sites through the analysis of the dynamic processes of reworking images. In particular we examine the engraved plaquettes of La Marche and the parietal art of Le Roc-aux-Sorciers to bring these links into perspective. This could shed light on some common ways of seeing the world in this Magdalenian group. Bourdier, C., Pinon, G., Bosselin, B. (2016). Norme et individualit au Rocaux-Sorciers (Vienne, France): approches des mains du registre animalier au travers de la forme. In M. Groenen, M.-Ch. Groenen (Eds.), Style, Techniques and Graphic expression in Rock Art (pp. 1735). BAR S2787. Chehmana, L., Beyries, S. (2010). Lindustrie lithique du Roc-aux-Sorciers (collection Rousseau). In J. Buisson-Catil, J. Primault (Eds.), Prhistoire entre Электронная библиотека ИА РАН: https://www.archaeolog.ru/ru/el-bib 16 Vienne et Charente. Hommes et socit du Palolithique (pp. 453460). Association des publications Chauvinoises, mmoire XXXVIII. Dujardin, V., Pinon, G. (2000). Le Magdalnien dans la Vienne et la Charente. In G. Pion (Dir.), Le Palolithique suprieur rcent: nouvelles donnes sur le peuplement et lenvironnement (pp. 213222). Actes de la table ronde de Chambry, 12-13 mars 1999, Mmoire de la Socit prhistorique franaise 28. Fuentes, O. (2016). The social dimension of human depiction in Magdalenian rock art (16,500 cal. BP 12.000 Cal. BP): the case of the Roc-aux-Sorciers rockshelter. Quaternary International, 430, 97113. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.quaint.2016.06.023 Pericard, L., Lwoff, S. (1940). La Marche. Commune de Lussac-les-Chteaux (Vienne). Premier atelier de Magdalnien III dalles graves mobiles. Bulletin de la Socit Prhistorique franaise, 37(79), 155180. Pinon, G. (1988). Fiche sagaie de Lussac-Angles. In H. Camps Fabrer (Dir.), Fiches typologiques de lindustrie osseuse prhistorique. Commission de nomenclature sur lindustrie de los prhistorique. Cahier I: sagaies (fiche 3bis). Universit de Provence. Pinon, G. (2012). Art mobilier et art parital du Roc-aux-Sorciers (Angles-surlAnglin, Vienne, France): disparits ou sens communs In J. Clottes (Ed.), Lart plistocne dans le monde / Pleistocene art of the world / Arte pleistoceno en el mundo (pp. 15491558). Bulletin Socit Prhistorique Arige-Pyrnes. Mazire, G. (2009). Les incisives de chevaux graves. In G. Pinon (Dir.), Le Roc-aux-Sorciers: art et parure du Magdalnien. Runion des Muses Nationaux. http://www.catalogue-roc-aux-sorciers.fr Rousseau, L. (1933). Le Magdalnien dans la Vienne. Dcouverte et fouille dun gisement du Magdalnien, Angles-sur-lAnglin (Vienne). Bulletin de la Socit Prhistorique franaise, 30, 239256. Saint-Mathurin (de), S., Garrod, D. (1950). Une frise sculpte du Magdalnien ancien dcouverte Angles-sur-lAnglin, dans la Vienne. Acadmie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, 94(2), 123128.