Aurignacian

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Aurignacian is the name of a culture of the Upper Palaeolithic located in Europe and south west Asia. It dates to between 34,000 and 23,000 BP. The name originates from the type site of Aurignac in the Haute Garonne area of France. The Aurignacian culture is considered by some archaeologists to have co-existed with the Périgordian culture of tool making.

[edit] "La Paquette"

Worked bone points with grooves cut in the bottom and some of the earliest cave art were produced by the Aurignacian culture. Their flint tools were more varied than those of earlier industries, employing finer blades struck from prepared cores rather than using crude flakes, and they made pendants, bracelets and ivory beads to ornament themselves. Bâtons de commandement are also found at their sites. This sophistication and self-awareness leads archaeologists to consider the makers of Aurignacian artefacts the first modern humans in Europe. Human remains and Aurignacian artefacts originally found at Cro-Magnon in France indicate that the culture was human rather than Neandertal.

The Aurignacian saw the first appearance of what paleoanthropologists refer to as "La Paquette" in Europe. This included new tool making skills, and the introduction of art.