Grandeur et décadence de la biche dans l’art paléolithique cantabrique

The motif of the hind occupies the first place in parietal iconography in the Cantabrian Region during the earliest phases of the Upper Paleolithic (including the Lower Magdalenian). Two artistic forms are present: red stamp paintings in deep caves and more schematic engravings in daylight. At the same time, the hind is very rare on the French side of the border, indicating that exchange networks were virtually cut off between the two regions. Then, during the Middle Magdalenian, the doe declined sharply in favour of the bison, which became the dominant motif. This motif, imported from the Pyrenees, shows that exchange networks had been restored. These thematic variations are therefore a means of accessing cultural and social exchanges between groups of hunter-collectors. The doe may have been at the centre of their symbolic imagination for a time, but its sudden abandonment indicates profound ideological upheavals in their relationship with the world.