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The rock shelter of Le Roc-aux-Sorciers is one of the major Upper Palaeolithic sites of Europe, along with the caves of Chauvet and Lascaux. At the foot of the cliff of Le Roc-aux-Sorciers, from the 1930s onwards, the research carried out by Lucien Rousseau (1927-1933), S. de Saint-Mathurin (between 1947 and 1990), and then by G. Pinçon (since 1993) has led to a better understanding of this place that was occupied by hunter-gatherers 15,000 years ago. This is a rare example of an archaeological site that features a rich regular occupation (between 15,000 BP and 14,000 BP) attributed to the Middle Magdalenian associated with monumental parietal art. The sculpted frieze, an exceptional testimony to the artistic mastery of these peoples, contains - over a distance of almost 20 m - more than thirty animal and human depictions. The human figures, which are very prominent in this parietal art, make this place even more remarkable. The humans depicted on the shelter's wall and ceiling enable us to discuss these people's thought processes. The images pose the question of how these hunter-gatherers conceived the body, as well as the constructions of identity that may stem from that. In this article I propose to present a synthesis of the human depictions of Le Roc-aux-Sorciers and to analyse the role of these images in the occupation of the territory, and the inscription of the human groups in the landscape. It appears that, in the mechanisms of otherness of the ethnic groups of the Upper Palaeolithic, human depictions played an important role in the expression of identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the issue of the audience of European Palaeolithic rock art, with a special interest given to the question of perceptibility. The carved, engraved and painted rock art from the Middle Magdalenian occupations of Roc-aux-Sorciers rock shelter (Angles-sur-l'Anglin, France) constitutes our case-study. Our methodology is based on an integrated approach of the rock art that combines an internal analysis of some intrinsic characteristics (techniques, dimensions, shapes, composition) and a study of the physical context it sets in. We particularly consider the characteristics of the environment of the site, its location in the landscape and its accommodation capacity. Thus are examined the visibility of the site and the decorated surfaces as well as the visibility and lisibility of the parietal carvings and engravings. We use GIS analysis processes to determine the view sheds and test several quantitative approaches taken from optics and visual ergonomics to calculate visibility and lisibility distances. If some analytical tools prove to be appropriate and relevant, the application of the formulas from the optical field needs to be qualified for some results are clearly overestimated. This preliminary research brings interesting results although supplementary analytical criteria will be necessary to consolidate them (lightning, painted register, perception of relief forms). Roc-aux-Sorciers was a site with a natural collective vocation given its high accommodation capacity from 75 to 100 people, easily accessible and highly visible in the landscape on a wide area. This study shows two strategies of visibility of the rock art, towards the outside or the inside of the site depending on whether the observer looks at the decorated back wall or ceiling. Moreover, two levels of visibility and legibility separate on the one hand the monumental carved frieze dedicated to a large and public audience, on the other hand the register of small fine engravings which discovery is more individual. Thus this study yields evidence of four levels of perceptibility of Roc-aux-Sorciers rock art: from an area of 1 km around the site until a close observation of the walls which can meet different audiences and hence recover diverse uses of the parietal iconography for these populations. Beyond, it is part of the territorial structuring and mobility of these people that could to be organized around these elements of distant visibility and perception of this decorated site which the Magdalenians were aware of. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most Upper Palaeolithic sites show a tendency for tools to correspond to a single function. In this case, successive resharpening leads to a reduction in tool size, changes in morphology, and changes to the angle of the active edges. In contrast, tools are sometimes resharpened, reshaped, and/or recycled after use for domestic activities, and are then employed for highly specialized tasks. In this paper, we will show how tool management can be different through examples from the European Magdalenian: Champréveyres and Monruz, two open-air sites with seasonal occupations, and Roc-aux-Sorciers, a rock shelter site with a long occupation and remarkable artistic activities. The status of these sites involves different visions, conceptions, and managements of the tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Grotte-aux-Sorciers, a rock shelter carved in the Oxfordian limestones of the concave bank cliffs of the Anglin valley, was adorned by the Magdalenians. The plateaus and divides of the area derive from a denudation surface created by a long geomorphic evolution during the Tertiary. The Anglin valley was deepened during alternated periods of incision and deposition, due to the climatic variations of the Quaternary. A higher terrace, an “intermediate” level, a middle terrace and a lower terrace have been documented. The cold periods of the Quaternary, especially the Würm, left traces in the landscape, namely mass-movements, solifluxion and frost splitting of the Jurassic limestones and took a part in the carving of caves and rock shelters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Situated a few kilometres from Angles-sur-Anglin (Vienne, France), the Roc-aux-Sorciers cave has yielded in 1927 and 1950 industry of the Middle and Upper Magdalenian periods. Our analyses of the sedimentary filling, dated from isotope stage 2, demonstrate the existence of two climatic sequences in the six ensembles defined during the excavations. A first sequence, at the base of the cave filling, corresponds to the occupation levels of the Middle Magdalenian and of the early Upper Magdalenian. At that time, the climate was globally cold and particularly humid, a conclusion that does not support Bastin''s 1975 hypothesis on the oscillation of Angles-sur-Anglin, which postulates a mild and humid climate. In fact, the climate evolved progressively towards a slight warming from the base to the top of the stratigraphy. During the second sequence, corresponding to the occupation period of the Upper Magdalenian, the relatively stable climate was slightly warmer and quite humid. Stratigraphical and sedimentological data thus provide new information on the conditions under which the filling was deposited and on the palaeoclimatology of the Poitou-Charentes region during Magdalenian occupation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]