The Significance of Social Gestures and Technologies of Embellishment in Paleolithic Portable Art

Abstract

This paper analyzes the gestures and technologies used to make Paleolithic portable art. Contextualized within the theoretical schools of the anthropology of technology and using the chaîne opératoire methodology, the approach advanced here quantifies the relationships between technology, society, and aesthetics in the production of Paleolithic art. Focusing on Pavlovian art, dating to between 28,000 and 24,000 radiocarbon years BP, this paper assesses the suite of art production technologies, particularly those used when modifying and decorating ivory, and traces the relationship between decorative techniques and other characteristics of art. These analyses offer insight into Pavlovian art traditions and the emergence of innovative techniques in Paleolithic societies.

Science, the Media, and Interpretations of Upper Paleolithic Figurines

“…First, few comprehensive studies of Upper Paleolithic figurines that postdate these reflexive critiques have been published in English (but for notable exceptions, see Farbstein , , ; Farbstein et al , discussed below). Furthermore, much of the recent scholarship discussing the figurines (other than the announcements of new discoveries, e.g., Conard )—including those publications that have garnered the most media attention (e.g., Guthrie ; Ogas and Gaddam , )—actually comes from outside the field of anthropology, focusing on aspects of figurines ranging from their roles in psychohistorical frameworks for art appreciation (Bullot and Reber ) to their depictions of patterns of human obesity during the Upper Paleolithic (King ).…”

“…In this regard, Rebecca Farbstein's research on Upper Paleolithic figurines from Eastern Europe (e.g., , , ; Farbstein et al ) represents an important new direction in the study of Pleistocene visual cultures. Building on earlier work by Margaret Conkey (e.g., ), Marcia‐Anne Dobres (, ), and others, Farbstein argues for an approach that combines an anthropology of technology with the concept of chaîne opératoire (“operational sequence”; see also Gaydarska et al for this approach applied to Copper Age figurines).…”

“…The resulting data have permitted Farbstein not only to identify broad social and technical traditions across cultural landscapes but also to tease out what she has referred to as “nuanced differences” between closely related settlements (Farbstein :142). For example, Farbstein () analyzed ivory figurines from Pavlov 1 and Dolni Vestonice 1, two sites in the Czech Republic dating to the early Upper Paleolithic that are normally considered to be tightly linked culturally.…”

Palaeolithic Personal Ornaments: Historical Development and Epistemological Challenges

“…Years later, many authors built on Otte's pioneering work by reconstructing the operational sequences involved in the making of prehistoric beads (e.g. White 1995;Farbstein 2011a, this approach has also been challenged, see the comments on Farbstein 2011b). For instance, White (1995) has reconstructed a chaîne opératoire summarizing the actions carried out in the making of Aurignacian beads.…”

Making art, making society: the social significance of small-scale innovations and experimentation in Palaeolithic portable art

“…While chaînes opératoires are often reconstructed for 'functional' material culture, such as lithics (Sellet 1993), the approach is less explicitly and less frequently used to study symbolic material culture (although see Farbstein 2010Farbstein , 2011White 1997White , 2007. Dobres (2000, 127Á30, 155) advocates for social applications of chaînes opératoires, noting that all behaviours, gestures, and technologies are inherently social (following Lechtman 1977;Lemonnier 1993;Mauss 1935).…”