Gravettian

Culture succeeding the Aurignacian (between around 34,000 and 25,000 years  ago) which takes its name from the site of La Gravette (Dordogne). The extent of its pan-European coverage is remarkable. This culture appeared during a temperate climatic oscillation in the last glaciation, developing during the Upper Pleniglacial period and maintaining significant overall consistency. The Gravettian is subdivided into several stages, sometimes characterised by different tool types (Gravette points, stemmed Font-Robert points, Noailles burins, Isturitz spearpoints etc.). In the late Gravettian, stone tool assemblages become more heterogeneous and the bone and antler tools abundant and diversified. The most numerous, best preserved and most spectacular Palaeolithic graves are Gravettian. The personal ornamentation and portable art (particularly female statuettes) are highly developed, while the cave art is represented by numerous caves in which the theme of negative hands is dominant.