Attribution of the wall ensembles to the Middle Magdalenian was rendered possible by directly linking them to occupation layers. On the one hand, sculptures being enclosed in archaeological layers and fragments of decorated wall at Roc-aux-Sorciers, Chaire-à-Calvin and Cap Blanc led archaeologists to conclude that the works were completed prior to the elements that concealed them. On the other hand, the presence of artists' tools and fragments of recut sculptures in occupation layers allowed them to associate wall art with them, as at Roc-aux-Sorciers.
However, these clues don't allow archaeologists to be absolutely certain about the dates of the wall ensembles: chrono-stratigraphic uncertainties (number, location and extent of archaeological layers, location of objects within the stratigraphy) related to the age of the initial excavations of the shelters do not provide indisputable evidence. Similarly, stylistic similarities between works only allow for hypotheses as to chronological connections between sites. The wall art itself at these sites cannot benefit from radiocarbon dating, because the only traces of black paint discovered at Roc-aux-Sorciers are manganese oxide-based, not charcoal.
