Mammuthus primigenius in the cave and portable art: An overview with a short account on the elephant fossil record in Southern Europe during the last glacial

Elephant and Mammoth Hunting during the Paleolithic: A Review of the Relevant Archaeological, Ethnographic and Ethno-Historical Records

“…Two spear-throwers shaped like mammoths were found at Canecaude I (Aude) and at Abri Montastruc (Tarn-et-Garonne), two Magdalenian sites in France [116], suggesting an association between the hunted animal and the hunting weapon. At the Yana site an engraved mammoth tusk was found, presenting anthropomorphic figures interpreted either as hunters or as dancers [125].…”

“…Mammoths appear in Upper Paleolithic zoomorphic representations (roughly 35-15 ka), in cave depictions and as portable symbolic/ornamental artefacts [116], demonstrating the significant place of proboscideans in these early humans' lives and symbolic sphere. In total, there are over 500 representations of mammoths in Paleolithic cave depictions.…”

Elephants are people, people are elephants: Human–proboscideans similarities as a case for cross cultural animal humanization in recent and Paleolithic times

“…Representation of elephants and mammoth are widely documented in multiple Upper Paleolithic sites in Europe, both in portable art and in rock art. (Dowson and Porr, 2001;Pettitt, 2008;Braun and Palombo 2012) Mammoth and elephant ivory was used in the Upper Paleolithic for the making of portable art, as can be seen in the site of P redmostí, Czech Republic (Farbstein and Svoboda, 2007). However, mammoth bone and ivory was not only the raw material but often the representation itself, as in many cases images of mammoths were carved on or from mammoth bone and ivory (Dowson and Porr, 2001).…”

“…Aurignacian sites in south-west Germany provide us with multiple portable art items shaped on mammoth ivory and bone as can be seen at the site of Vogelherd, where several portable art items were discovered including a complete figurine of a mammoth made of ivory and a mammoth relief carved on mammoth bone (Dowson and Porr, 2001;Braun and Palombo, 2012). The mammoth representation in portable art varied from figurines made on bone or ivory to engraving on various raw materials, as can be seen at such sites as Abri de La Madeleine, G€ onnersdorf, Los Casares, Mal'ta, Berel€ ekh and more (Bednarik, 1992;Braun and Palombo, 2012).…”

“…The mammoth representation in portable art varied from figurines made on bone or ivory to engraving on various raw materials, as can be seen at such sites as Abri de La Madeleine, G€ onnersdorf, Los Casares, Mal'ta, Berel€ ekh and more (Bednarik, 1992;Braun and Palombo, 2012).…”