The Gravettian Culture: Lords of the Mammoth Steppe
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In the depths of the ice age in Europe, at the end of the Upper Paleolithic, the Gravettian saw incredible societies of mammoth hunters thriving across Europe.
They lived in caves, rock shelters, and open-air settlements in mammoth bone houses and developed surprisingly complex and sophisticated societies. Their burials at sites like Dolní Věstonice and Sungir could include grave goods like ivory beads in enormous quantities, suggesting the emergence of social inequality.
They were the first people in the world to use ceramics, making small figurines of animals and people. They also made the world-famous Venus figurines in stone, ivory, and moulded from clay. So who were these people? Where did they come from? Where and how did they live? How could they create so much art in the depths of the ice age? And what ultimately happened to them?
This is the awe-inspiring story of the lords of the mammoth steppe; the Gravettians.
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Sources
Palaeolithic Europe: A Demographic and Social Prehistory by Jennifer C. French amzn.to/4dCRRf8
The People of Sunghir by Erik Trinkaus et al amzn.to/3JXhDgo
Growing Up in the Ice Age by April Nowell amzn.to/4aid9vB
Posth, C., Yu, H., Ghalichi, A. et al. Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers. Nature 615, 117-126 (2023)
Bennett, E.A., Parasayan, O., Prat, S. et al. Genome sequences of 36,000- to 37,000-year-old modern humans at Buran-Kaya III in Crimea.
Baker, J., Rigaud, S., Pereira, D. et al. Evidence from personal ornaments suggest nine distinct cultural groups between 34,000 and 24,000 years ago in Europe
The Death and Burial of Sunghir 1 - E. Trinkausa and A. P. Buzhilova 2010
The origin of the Gravettian - Janusz K. Kozlowski 2014
The symbolism of breast-shaped beads from Dolní Věstonice - Martina Lázničková-Galetová 2017
Upper Paleolithic ceramic figurines - Pamela B. Vandiver 2022
A Critical Reassessment of Pavlovian Art and Society - Rebecca Farbstein 2013
Identity and fear - burials in the Upper Palaeolithic - Simona Petru 2019
Upper Paleolithic Venus Figurines and Interpretations of Prehistoric Gender Representations - Vandewettering 2015
The Gravettian burials at Grotta Paglicci - Ronchitelli et al 2015
Self-Representation in Upper Paleolithic Female Figurines - LeRoy McDermott 1996
Hunters of the Ice Age: The Biology of Upper Paleolithic People - Holt & Formicola 2008
Venus figurines history: www.stoneageherbalist.com/p/t...
The above links include affiliate links which means we will earn a small commission from your purchases at no additional cost to you which is a way to support the channel.
Thank you
Ancient Europeans for use of artwork: / ancienteuropea1
Dolni Věstonice digital reconstruction: www.behance.net/gallery/26216...
Thank you to Don Hitchcock for his fantastic resources at donsmaps.com/
Video Chapters
00:00 The Gravettians
01:50 MagellanTV
03:00 The First Europeans
05:38 Gravettian Origins
08:50 Gravettian physiques
11:23 Gravettian mobility
14:00 Venus Figurines
18:00 Personal ornaments and culture
19:18 Dolní Věstonice
22:44 The burials at Sungir
25:05 Gravettian social inequality
26:47 The last Gravettians
Пікірлер: 591
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@lottesrensen8004
17 күн бұрын
Yea please the ANE CHG the people of the taklamakan dessert (White mummies people) yuzhi in Asia, the yuchitribe part of algonkin creek confederation in East USA, yezidies in iraq, the kalash better India and pakistan
@wesspence
17 күн бұрын
😊😊❤v ĺ⁰😂1😂0😅ppq
@shzarmai
15 күн бұрын
Good video, I wish there were more Mammoths in popular fantasy and mammoth herding in fantasy in general.
@nogins
10 күн бұрын
Ok.. So what language family would the "Gravettian culture " people belong to? Would be part of the Basque language family or something like it ? And if not then what ?
Nobody gives more life to our ancestors than you, Dan. Thank you.
@DanDavisHistory
12 күн бұрын
Thank you! That's just what I want to do, appreciate it 🙏
@anchieta6467
12 күн бұрын
Amazingly good documentaries. Thank you very much.
@christianbolze7092
7 сағат бұрын
Well, do you go to a museum? :)
To think they persisted for 10,000 years in that environment. Damn amazing.
@user-xt1de9jr9l
15 күн бұрын
They were there for hundreds of thousands of years.
@ronalddunne3413
14 күн бұрын
@@user-xt1de9jr9l No, not nearly that long, no more than 40,000 BP... 😎
@user-xt1de9jr9l
13 күн бұрын
@@ronalddunne3413 you’re categorically wrong. The Goyet study alone looked at UPMH 60 000-30 000 years ago. They were there for hundreds of thousands of years. And they likely came from north Eastern Asia. The melting pot for human like primates. Neanderthals, homo erectus and Denisovans all interbred there, likely how Homo sapiens evolved.
@DarthVantos
11 күн бұрын
@@user-xt1de9jr9l Are you a neanderthal? Because they dominated the region hundreds of thousands of years. Modern humans could barely migrate into europe because of them.
I did NOT expect Gravettian men to be this tall! It definitely caught me by surprise, i had to do a double take to see if i misheard. Excellent video! Please do more of pre-anatolian farmers Europe!
@dwijgurram5490
12 күн бұрын
It's probably due to oxygen levels.
@dwijgurram5490
12 күн бұрын
And height difference between men and woman was probably due to selection
@NoTerrorManagement
12 күн бұрын
@@dwijgurram5490 No i don't think so, it's very likely the diet. These people ate all sorts of megafauna meat high on protein and all the other good stuff. Even long after the paleolithic period in Europe, people who lived on a primarily meat based diet (Germanic tribes, Spartans etc) where generally taller than populations that relied mainly on grain and fish (Romans, Athenians etc).
I commented years ago i was injured at work and came across your channel since then mate im glad people have seen and appreciated what research and effort you put into these and your starting to take off. Your passion for history shines through, more power too you pal.
Fantastic video! I have spent a lot of time replicating Gravettian, and Solutrean tools, art, and material culture. It is awesome to see these fascinating people getting some attention.
@violenceislife1987
16 күн бұрын
Videos? Good work
Absolute banger, as always. Paleolithic society vids always fascinate me, since it always seems that their cultures and ways of life persist for far longer periods of time than our cultures tend to in more recent times.
When I see the Venus figurines I see a representation of a woman that has birthed several children. This seems consistent with the belief that fertility is what was being venerated with the figurines. One can only imagine why this was done but it's not hard to imagine that in a world where life was harsh and probably short, the women who brought new life into the world were held in high esteem. Thank you Dan for another excellent presentation of these fascinating ancient cultures.
@jamesleonard2870
18 күн бұрын
Yeah, that makes sense. Considering that a girls probably procreated at a much earlier age than is common today and therefore had an even higher mortality rate because of of that =\
@captainfury497
18 күн бұрын
The problem with equating obesity with fertility is that it poses a plethora of complications to pregnancy. Furthermore, obesity was extremely rare in the pre-industrial world (even in agricultural societies). Women had to do some hard work too and ofcourse they had to walk large distances according to their nomadic lifestyle so the figurines were possibly idealized than realistic
@mydknight357
18 күн бұрын
@@captainfury497 I'm not equating obesity with fertility. I'm equating the appearance of the Venus figurines with the appearance of women I know in real life that have had multiple children.
@Golightly354
18 күн бұрын
@@mydknight357 I don't see how you can possibly equate the appearance of the Venus figurines to contemporary women. Their lifestyles are unbelievably different in that women around centuries ago, most likely were hungry a lot of the time and had very physical, hard work to do.
@mydknight357
18 күн бұрын
@@Golightly354 Allow me to explain it to you. It's my 20/20 vision that allows me to make that comparison. I don't see how you can possibly not see those similarities. I'm not comparing lifestyles, I'm comparing physical appearance.
Could watch all day
Today, with the population bordering on obese, our models are SKINNY. In the depression when people were lean, the models were plump. Maybe, with an active life full of activity and limited caloric intake, maybe the plump figurines were a response to their conditions.
@ninoska.noe.
13 күн бұрын
Ah, so beauty standards were never achievable all throughout history? 😢
@justanamerican9024
13 күн бұрын
@@ninoska.noe. Not never achievable, just challenging
@SandhillCrane42
Сағат бұрын
She's ready to give birth and supply milk in the lean times so your grave will have the rites of immortality for generations. That's hot.
Dan you do such great high quality work, I really appreciate you do all of these narrations yourself and havn't gone down the AI route so many others have. Looking forward to listening to this!
@patrickirwin3662
18 күн бұрын
YES!!
Bingeing the paleolithic content at the moment. More please.
@DanDavisHistory
Күн бұрын
Thank you very much. Yes perhaps I will.
Fantastic! So good to see 'cave men" looking so stylish! Despite the difficult environment, I think that the Venus figures show that these people valued, and aspired to their best life: beautiful clothes, ornaments, bodies. Their stories, songs and partying must have been amazing too!
Thanks kindly, Dan, for another spectacular installment!
@bartholomewtott3812
18 күн бұрын
Televisual feast.
Thank you Mr. Davis. Through your presentations I’ve embarrassingly learned more about prehistoric European archaeology from you than from my European Archaeology course in university. That’s not to say I had a bad professor, he was actually very good. But there has been so much more advancement in the field since those days.
>Make fat doll >Tell Grug "this is your mother" >Laugh >Throw away doll >Thousands of years later:
@THEScottCampbell
18 күн бұрын
Thank you for explaining what were humorous pieces of artwork. Modern politically correct college drones are incapable of cogent thought.
@elliotkane4443
18 күн бұрын
I totally agree, the speculation we put on these burials is incredible. It could be a part of something else that decayed for all we know, it could be a joke, it could be a sacred symbol, hell we don't know
@paul6925
18 күн бұрын
Apparently they only had 1 joke they told over and over again
@cal2127
18 күн бұрын
@@paul6925your mom jokes are timeless.
@cal2127
18 күн бұрын
honestly in a nomadic society they could have thought the idea of a fat person who couldnt march well ironic or funny
These Venus figures are clearly matronly (post pregnancy, mothers). What's fascinating to me is that these figures almost certainly represent individuals that would have existed within the community (everyone today recognizes this body type). The fact that these individuals existed highlights how successful these Paleolithic hunters had to have been. (If we were scraping buy, waiting for someone to invent agriculture. It would have been impossible for these women to exist.)
@jamesleonard2870
18 күн бұрын
So the Venus’ could be people’s mothers. Especially if children were promoted into adulthood as preteens. I’m thinking the boys especially would join men’s hunting bands as earlier as they were able and so lined for the mothers as they remember them. Just a thought =]
@captainfury497
18 күн бұрын
There is only one problem obesity like that were extremely rare in the pre-industrial world. Especially among hunter gatherers. Women worked hard too so it was not likely they could become obese like that. furthermore it is hard to believe that women who were built like that would have been able to walk long distances in accordance with the nomadic lifestyle of these people
@slappy8941
18 күн бұрын
I think they were earth goddess figurines.
@carrdoug99
18 күн бұрын
@@slappy8941 I'm sure there's something to that line of reasoning (earth mother). They were clearly modeled/inspired by a body type we're all familiar with.
@allanmason3201
16 күн бұрын
@@captainfury497 What you say here makes sense, but it seems to me that those who created the "Venus" figurines must have had some knowledge of what an obese woman looks like. The figurines correctly depict typical female fat distribution rather than them having, say, only exaggerated breasts and a swollen belly.
The Venus figurines may have been part of a dowry taken from village to village with potential brides.
I love prehistoric societies these people had to endure so many hardships, just think cold winters, hunger, and diseases, but despite everything they survived and adapted, I was amazed at how low their numbers were, just goes to show how harsh was their environment
Simply superior work, Dan Davis.... Excellent research, and delivery... you painted a very clear image of the progression of humanity. I do take exception with the take of it being such a hard life. People under stress do continue being creative, but they do not make frivolous artifacts, even as they incorporate difficulty into play. ie; "Ring around the rosy, pockets full of possies, ashes, ashes, all fall down" is a kids rhyme about the black plague.
@willbass2869
18 күн бұрын
Wikipedia: "...scholars regard the popular Great Plague explanation, common since the mid-20th century, as baseless."
Hey @DanDavisHistory great quality content mate. As an Archaeologist myself specialised in Prehistory I wish we had a content like this back then at the University. Bringing the Gravettian to life is a remarkable feat, because you provide a full 365 degrees picture of it all. Thanks again for this. Jose
Definitely interested in more ice-age and paleo content. Our beginnings. Thanks Dan. Love your work.
I remember reading about this culture, referenced as a made up name, as a teenager from Jean M. Auel's amazing Earth's Children book series. Your video echoes very well to these memories. Thanks again for all your work!
@ottoginafiel5468
18 күн бұрын
I alllmost got into those, saw them at the bookstore as a teen
Yet another excellent video Dan 🏆👍👍
Loved the video! I really appreciate that stone age and copper/early bronze age societies receive so much attention on this channel.
Thank you for your amazing films.❤
That first portrait carving is so cool. And the beads too. Really sounds like they were a society, complex and skilled.
Mammoth Steppe sounds like a new music genre that i need to get into
It’s remarkably hardcore and awesome that Humans were able to adapt and survive past ice age Europe and Siberia. :)
OHHHHH HOW I'VE WAITED FOR IT!! Thank you so much!
So the population of one small town, spread across all of Europe. They were harsh times, but not crowded times.
Reading a bit about Early European Modern Humans(cro-magnons), supposedly they were the most robust humans ever analysed.
@Irene-im8xi
14 күн бұрын
I think neanderthals were more robust than cro-magnons. They were shorter but stockier.
Greetings to the author, thank you for this material, very good informative video!
@MrArsg13
18 күн бұрын
@@forestdweller5581 thanks
Thanks for the Quality content. Love stuff like this.
So happy to see you’re still making excellent videos!
Venus figurines were humans' first waifus.
@magustrigger9195
18 күн бұрын
Uwu
@whosaidthat5236
18 күн бұрын
lol that’s funny… because it’s true
@Mantelar
18 күн бұрын
It was probably a chief’s wife.
@ottoginafiel5468
18 күн бұрын
They are figurines made by hunters' female mates to remind the hunters of their woman while they were away on long hunts.
@Mantelar
18 күн бұрын
@@ottoginafiel5468 they are figures hunters carved of the ideal body type, which could never be achieved because there wasn’t enough food.
This was wonderful and fascinating. This channel always delivers.
Thanks for posting!
Many thanks for a brilliant documentary
I've never really had much interest in this period of human history until watching you. Great video.
The stories you tell, the videos you make .. fantastic 👍
Informative and enjoyable. Gratitude
Great documentary! Thank you!
I’m rewatching for the 5th time.. already 😅 I tend to have videos on when I am doing other things .. but between you and the other handful of top quality history creators, I’ll just rewatch and rewatch until I actually get it all.. then 😂 I’ll put it on the playlist for eventual replay.. lol Absolutely LOVE early prehistoric content.. can’t get enough of it.. Especially really well done interesting stuff like you keep bringing us.. THANK YOU!!
Thank you, Subscribed, Liked, and added to Gravettian playlist, great info.
I've been waiting so long for this video. Please do more Upper Paleolithic cultures :)
thanks :) as always really well made!!! i truly enjoy your documentaries
One of your best Dan, just incredible 👏👏👏
Another fascinating video!!
Thanks Dan Davis, big fan of your channel and looking forward to your novels. I enjoy your narration too.
This was wonderful, thank you.
Loved it Dan Thank you !!!!
I wonder if the Gravettian culture chose who was buried based on how sudden the death was. Maybe when they had time to say goodbye to a sick person they had different funeral rights. The person knew they where dying and could distribute their 'grave goods' before actually dying. Those who died sudden deaths could not dictate inheritance so it was all seen as still theirs and arranged around them as everyone said goodbye. Maybe there was an element of self sacrifice when you knew it was your time; like an elder feeling they are a burden and leaving the camp to die alone after saying goodbye and gifting their belongings. Contagious diseases may have killed entire families leaving them all unburied. By the time one person has a near death fever, others are already infected.
@DanDavisHistory
18 күн бұрын
Some researchers believe burials were reserved for people who had to be somehow separated from the living or other dead perhaps. Walled off within the earth, somehow. Those who had disabilities, diseases, or suffered a violent death. It's hard to know with what limited information we have.
@jamesleonard2870
18 күн бұрын
I’ve wondered that too =] 🌊🏄♂️🪷😊
@isabelled4871
3 күн бұрын
Re contagious diseases, it is said that they appeared after the domestication of animals (smallpox, tuberculosis...) So people were actually a lot healthier before agriculture and animal breeding. I don't know if there were some contagious diseases before or none at all.
I enjoy your work so much! Please know how grateful I am for your wonderful videos!
Arts, crafts and possibly religious beliefs and rituals I believe are the result of the human mind that evolved to solve complex survival problems moving to the north where ample game and long winters necessitated a way to keep the overly active human mind from imploding.
I agree with you on so many of your topics. Good job and well explained
Once again Dan thank you. Your channel is great
Very informative and enjoyable.
your channel is great. love your each presentation. :)
Such interesting content!
I love your vids man, you put a ton of work into them, and I really enjoy just listening to them while I am driving for work.
You continue to astound me. Great work!
My peeps! Thanks, Dan!
Your work speaks for itself . Bravo
Paleolithic! I was waiting for something on this topic . 🦣Thank you.
You always upload such awesome content man. Please keep it up!
Finally got to watch it. Very good yet again
What a great video! Well researched and even with all sources! Will definitively read some of them. Thank you very much! This is a real good addendum to my archaeoligical studies!
As far as I know, the self-portait hypothesis for the Venus figurines refers specifically to pregnant women, as the anthropologist who came up with it, was pregnant herself and noticed looking down at her own body, that the proportions of the figurines match the proportions she observed. She provided pictures taken from her perspective and replicated the same angles taking photos of the Venus... the side by side comparison was quite convincing to me, especially when considering that opportunities of looking at your own face for prolonged periods for reference, were rare when compared to later cultures with access to mirrors... It also seems quite convincing, that, given the active life style of the Gravettians, women in the middle and late stages of pregnancy, would probably have the most time to spend on exploring artistic expression? At least as a hypothesis for how those figurines were originally invented, I think it is still the most convincing one I've read so far... Of course, over thousands of years of continual making, it is likely, that these figurines would have had multiple purposes... possibly of representing a mother/fertility goddes, amulets for a safe pregnancy/birth, as well as an educational tool for girls, when reaching fertility and maybe even the earliest form of porn...
@DanDavisHistory
8 күн бұрын
LeRoy McDermott wrote the article on Venus figurines being female self representation and he was a man.
@necro5000
8 күн бұрын
I referred to a paper co-authored by Catherine Hodge McCoid and Leroy D. McDermitt published in June of 1996 in the American Anthropologist (Vol. 98)? McDermitt ideed had an earlier solo publication on the matter in April of 1996, I wasn‘t aware of (also one in 1985 appearently) 🤗 Also found that the English Wiki on the Venus of Willendorf only cites said article by Leroy McDermitt, despite the wiki mentioning Catherine McCoid as originator of the hypothesis (probably because she’s an anthropology professor while McDermitt is an art historian? 🤔) 🤗 Anyway, you were right, I stand corrected! 😁🙌
Thanks for this and also the mining video wonderful
Love the channel and great work! Oh, man, I LOVE prehistory. I hope you make plenty more content about as many times and cultures as you can! I'll eat it up.
Dreaming of a day you join forces with crecganford… he has such interesting themes, but his storytelling is not good. You, on the other hand: one of best i can find. Starting on your books soon , cant wait!!!
This was my first video of yours that I've seen. I cant believe I'm just now finding this channel. I love learning about such things. I'm no professor or academic scholar of any kind. I'm just a fella thats always been intrigued by our prehistoric ancestors. Learning how people lived in a time before time. I like to think it's possible that one of those sets of bones was a great X (however many generations) grandfather or mother. We all had to come from some survivor of these time periods. Well survive long enough to give birth at least. Anyway I really enjoyed this one and I'll be hitting that subscription button.
Oh hell yeah! I love whenever I see Dan Davis has posted a new documentary
Thank you!
One of my favorite theories regarding the Venus figurines is that they typically represent older women. Rather than illustrating voluptuousness and fertility, they represent a body thickened and sagging from age. This could then be thought to represent a mother (or grandmother) goddess, a tribal elder (being non-Indo-European, we don't know that they were so heavily patriarchal, even if they appear to have been patrilocal), or even a charm-carry an aged figure to channel magic that lets one reach so advanced an age.
More please. That was great 👍
Really interesting, so very vividly portrayed lives of the people and great explanations... Discussions of possibilities of discoveries and what might have been. Thank you
This was excellent!
Well presented, sir!
Knew this was gonna be good, excellent video!
When I view with great interest what is known today, compared to when I took anthropology at university, some 50 years ago, it is amazing how far the discipline has come: During my period of study it was made patently clear that we were not to stray too far from the then held views, equally it was made clear to we erstwhile students, that following, and advocating new trends wouldn't bode well for us passing our exams. Like many of my fellow students we read and discussed the new information being made available, but hid the books and papers from our instructors, and made no reference to it. How they thought the study of man was going to advance, is beyond me. All it achieved was to ensure the then accepted pillars, and notaries of the science had a sinecure, their status upheld. I am very grateful to the likes of yourself, and others, who promote, and publicise new discoveries, and interpretation of the evidence gleaned, now, and that from the past. Only in this way can a science grow, and advance.
You really brought it to life!
Eine sehr gut gemachte Dokumentation. Sehr gut !
This was astoundingly well-researched and incredibly entertaining to watch. Thank you!
@DanDavisHistory
16 күн бұрын
Thanks for working with me!
@magellantv
16 күн бұрын
@@DanDavisHistory Our pleasure!
New to your channel and really enjoyed this video!
Great vid!
Great presentation 👍🏻
Awesome video! One about the Ancient North Eurasians would be dope!
Excellent presentation
Great stuff
Thank you for these incredible videos sir! As a hunter it would be such an adventure to hunt back then
Now this will be interesting
Great channel
i am czech and Mr Burian was the artist that painted people from Dolni Vestonice, and its really Amazing. When I was small, I read many Books that were fiction, but these books were telling fascinating stories for us children about life in this era. I still have one book and illustrated by Burian, it holds a special memory. I wonder if I still have dna from these people...who knows...I tested my sons dna and its mainly eastern europian, then balkans, baltic and surprisingly english and italian❤ what a mix
Thank you for this excellent video, I love to imagine how our palaeolithic relatives lived and I admire their abilities to survive such difficult conditions. It is amazing that the wonderful Earth’s Children book series closely mirrors these findings even though they were written 40 years ago.
I enjoy your videos Dan because of your non-factual stance on many instances by others who call themselves professional. When there all just theories. Although some theories seam more factual. So thank for all your hard work. Enjoyed. 💯👍🏻👍🏻
Yes to more Paleolithic content :)
First class content, more please 🙂! I learned a lot more on this channel. Gathering the latest science on a subject must be a lot of work. Thank you!
@DanDavisHistory
17 күн бұрын
Thanks very much. It's just a lot of reading, really, which I enjoy.
Oooooohhhhhh a new video!!! ( I comment this as I start video , will update after viewing ) . . Update Wonderful, another great one !