The Use of Clay in the Upper Paleolithic of Europe

This volume surveys the use of clay in Upper Palaeolithic Europe, arguing that alongside better studied media, clay was used a material for symbolic expression. Bougard identifies two cultural contexts with traditions of using clay, one in Moravia during the Gravettian period, and the other in the French Pyrenees during the Magdalenian. These are studied in depth, with analysis of what they can tell us about the social relations of production and about the transmission of knowledge, and quite different conclusions drawn about the two regions being studied.