See how they fly! Some considerations on symbolic transfers and territories at the end of Upper Palaeolithic

摘要

Paleolithic portable art is constitutive of social and cultural identities, as images create a link between territories and men. Therefore, the study of some symbols can lead to a better understanding of the status and the complexity of symbolic territories. In this paper we present the history of diffusion of two symbols from Upper Magdalenian, macrocephalic horses and complex signs coming from a specific site. After a theoretical reflections on the status of symbol, we are considering what criteria should be taken into account for defining each of these symbols and understand how they have diffused - or not - in their immediate or more distant environment. The focus upon designs shareable but that haven't been transferred around suggests new perspectives for thinking the investment of human groups in their symbolic territory, through their artistic production. Therefore, we aim at demonstrating that immobility of images should, as their mobility, be taken in account in the cultural geography of the Upper palaeolithic. (c) 2018 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.