Baton fragment (Palart 310)

Perforated baton with low relief horse, from La Madeleine

Dating to the last Ice Age (Upper Palaeolithic), this decorated fragment of a perforated antler baton was discovered in 1863 by Edouard Lartet and Henry Christy at the Abri de la Madeleine, an overhanging cliff situated near Tursac, in the Dordogne département and the Aquitaine Région of South-Western France. This is the type-site for the Magdalenian culture. It was bequeathed to the British Museum by Christy, and is now catalogued as Palart.310, but not normally on display (see below for current exhibition). The baton is 16.6 cm long, 5.5 cm wide and 3 cm thick. The fragment is broken at both ends and is distinguished by a near-cylindrical section, which is interrupted on one side by a horse motif, and on the other side by three deeply cut grooves.

The baton has one perforated hole in the near centre, with a deep groove above it, which runs long ways just below the upper edge. Directly to the left of the perforated hole is an image of a horse; this faces to the right, and appears in low-relief. The figure has a large eye, a high angular shaped mane, and small forelegs that seem to sweep backwards. There are two incised V shapes on its flank – that might suggest injury – or more likely movement.

The occurrence of a large eye is a feature found on other baton examples excavated at La Madeleine.

Function

This decorated antler baton was used in the manufacture and throwing of spears. The hole is a gauge to shape the shaft of the spear. It can also be used to straighten both the tips and the shafts. By looping a strip of raw hide through the hole the tool becomes a weapon. Looping the thong around the end of the spear, turns the baton into a spear thrower. The object represents both a decorated tool and weapon; carrying kit that serves more than one function has immediate advantages when one is on the move.

Exhibitions

April to June 2010 – 'Ice Age Sculpture' at the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds.
May to July 2006 – 'Undercover Surrealism' at Hayward Gallery, London.
February to May 2013 – exhibition at the British Museum Ice Age Art: Arrival of the Modern Mind^[1]

References

↑ Ice Age Art: Arrival of the Modern Mind

"British Museum", on the British Museum online database

Ades, D. and Baker, S. 2006. Undercover surrealism: Georges Bataille and DOCUMENTS. London: Hayward Gallery.
Sieveking, A. 1987. A catalogue of Palaeolithic art. London: The British Museum Press.
Underwood, L. 1965. Le baton de commandement. MAN 65, 140–4.
Zervos, C. 1959. L'art de l'epoque du renne en France. Paris: Cahiers d'art.

Prehistoric technology

Tools

Farming

Food processing

Hunting

Arrow Boomerang throwing stick Bow and arrow history Nets Spear Spear-thrower baton harpoon woomera Schöningen Spears
Projectile points	Arrowhead Bare Island Cascade Clovis Cresswell Cumberland Eden Folsom Lamoka Manis Site Plano Transverse arrowhead
Systems	Game drive system Buffalo jump

Toolmaking

Other tools

Architecture

Ceremonial	Göbekli Tepe Kiva Standing stones megalith row Stonehenge Pyramid
Dwellings	Neolithic architecture British megalith architecture Nordic megalith architecture Burdei Cave Cliff dwelling Dugout Hut Quiggly hole Jacal Longhouse Mud brick Mehrgarh Neolithic long house Pit-house Pueblitos Pueblo Rock shelter Blombos Cave Abri de la Madeleine Sibudu Cave Stone roof Roundhouse Stilt house Alp pile dwellings Wattle and daub
Water management	Check dam Cistern Flush toilet Reservoir Water well
Other architecture	Archaeological features Broch Burnt mound fulacht fiadh Causewayed enclosure Tor enclosure Circular enclosure Goseck Cursus Henge Thornborough Oldest buildings Megalithic architectural elements Midden Timber circle Timber trackway Sweet Track

Arts and culture

Material goods	Baskets Beadwork Beds Chalcolithic Clothing/textiles timeline Cosmetics Glue Hides shoes Ötzi Jewelry amber use Mirrors Pottery Cardium Grooved ware Linear Jōmon Unstan ware Sewing needle Weaving Wine Winery wine press
Prehistoric art	Art of the Upper Paleolithic Art of the Middle Paleolithic Blombos Cave List of Stone Age art Bird stone Bradshaw rock paintings Cairn Carved Stone Balls Cave paintings painting pigment Cup and ring mark Geoglyph Golden hats Guardian stones Megalithic art Petroform Petroglyph Petrosomatoglyph Pictogram Rock art Stone carving Sculpture Statue menhir Stone circle list British Isles and Brittany Venus figurines
Burial	Burial mounds Bowl barrow Round barrow Mound Builders culture U.S. sites Chamber tomb Severn-Cotswold Cist Dartmoor kistvaens Clava cairn Court tomb Cremation Dolmen Great dolmen Funeral pyre Gallery grave transepted wedge-shaped Grave goods Jar burial Long barrow unchambered Grønsalen Megalithic tomb Mummy Passage grave Rectangular dolmen Ring cairn Simple dolmen Stone box grave Tor cairn Tumulus Unchambered long cairn
Other cultural	Astronomy sites lunar calendar Behavioral modernity Origin of language Prehistoric medicine trepanning Evolutionary musicology music archaeology Prehistoric music Alligator drum flutes Divje Babe flute gudi Prehistoric numerals Origin of religion Paleolithic religion Prehistoric religion Spiritual drug use Prehistoric warfare Symbols symbolism

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Baton fragment (Palart 310)

Function

Exhibitions

See also

References

Further reading