15,800-year-old engraved plaquettes from the Magdalenian site of Gönnersdorf depict fishing techniques, including the use of nets, not previously known in the Upper Paleolithic

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15,800-year-old engraved plaquettes from the Magdalenian site of Gönnersdorf, located in modern-day Germany, depict fishing techniques, including the use of nets, not previously known in the Upper Paleolithic

406 engraved schist plaquettes have been found in the ~15,800 year-old Magdalenian site of Gönnersdorf, in modern-day Germany. They have been extensively studied in the past.

Thanks to the introduction of advanced imaging technologies, and notably Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), those prehistoric plaquettes have been re-evaluated.

They thus showed depictions of fish and accompanying grid motifs, which have been interpreted as a deliberate combination portraying the use of fishing nets.

15,800-year-old engraved plaquettes from the Magdalenian site of Gönnersdorf, located in modern-day Germany, depict fishing techniques, including the use of nets, not previously known in the Upper Paleolithic. Plaquette 282. Dimensions of engraving: 6cm (L) x 5cm (W); Location: Central part of a fragmented plaquette, flat surface; Fish: Fusiform shape, cranial, dorsal, and ventral sections, partial forked tail; Engraving: Fish first, followed by the net; fish at the center. Credits: Robitaille et al., 2024, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0

Bibliographic information:

Robitaille J, Meyering L-E, Gaudzinski-Windheuser S, Pettitt P, Jöris O, Kentridge R (2024) Upper Palaeolithic fishing techniques: Insights from the engraved plaquettes of the Magdalenian site of Gönnersdorf, Germany, PLoS ONE 19(11): e0311302, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0311302

Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG (Germany) – AHRC (UK) Memorandum of Understanding Grant DFG-Projekt GZ: GA 683/13-1 (AOBJ: 647648); AHRC (UK) AH/V002899/1) Kunst und Haushalt im Paläolithikum: Psychologie im häuslichen Alltag vor 16.000 Jahren in Gönnersdorf (Rheinland). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Press release from PLoS ONE.