A Set Of Prehistoric Artifacts From The Last Ice Age Were Found To Contain 15,800-Year-Old Engravings
A set of prehistoric stone artifacts from the last ice age was recently found to contain 15,800-year-old engravings.
The stone “plaquettes” were discovered at an ice age campsite called Gönnersdorf, which is located on the banks of the Rhine River in Germany.
Plaquettes are pieces of stone, bone, ivory, or antler with a flat surface carved with engravings or artwork.
They are often associated with European cultures from the Upper Paleolithic, a period that dates from roughly 50,000 to 12,000 years ago.
The engravings on the Gönnersdorf plaquettes depict fish and grid-like patterns that researchers have interpreted as fishing nets or traps.
According to the research team, which included experts from Durham University in the United Kingdom and the Leibniz Center for Archaeology in Germany, the engravings are the earliest known depictions of fishing with nets or traps in European prehistory.
Until now, such detailed illustrations of fishing with nets had not been recorded for the Upper Paleolithic.
In the past, indirect evidence of fishing nets with an Upper Paleolithic background was identified, but they were mostly inferred from impressions of textiles or reconstructions.
The Gönnersdorf plaquettes clearly portray images of fish alongside what appears to be nets. The team used an advanced imaging technology called reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) to detect the engravings.
Leonid Ikan – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only – pictured above is a close up view of cracks in a piece of ice
“Earlier findings provide both direct (bones indicating fishing and consumption) and indirect insights into fishing practices through artifacts like barbed points and fishhooks, suggesting techniques such as spearfishing and angling, though these were inferred from tools rather than visual depictions,” said Jérǒme Robitaille, the lead author of the study.
“Fishing likely contributed to subsistence across Paleolithic societies, yet direct artistic portrayals of fishing are exceptionally rare.”
The researchers employed RTI to analyze over 400 plaquettes uncovered at the Gönnersdorf campsite, which were made by late Upper Paleolithic people.
These plaquettes had been studied before, but RTI allowed for a more extensive investigation, revealing never-before-seen features.
The technique revealed subtle details that traditional observation methods failed to pick up on. This level of clarity had not been documented in Upper Paleolithic art before, making Gönnersdorf unique from other sites.
The latest findings are a window into the lives of the people who occupied the camp during the late Upper Paleolithic.
They belonged to the Magdalenian culture, which dates to around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. Fishing may have been symbolically significant to them.
The combination of carvings of fish within nets on eight plaquettes, the presence of fish remains at the camp, and evidence of textile production and use all indicate that the Magdalenian culture practiced net fishing.
“The study suggests that fishing played a more vital role in Magdalenian society than previously thought, both as a subsistence strategy and as a cultural activity embedded within symbolic frameworks,” said Robitaille.
“The minimalist representation of fish within grid patterns points to a deliberate artistic focus on the act of fishing rather than the fish itself, indicating a nuanced understanding and artistic expression of fishing as a structured, social and possibly seasonal activity.”
The study was published in the journal PLOS One.
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