Laussel

a Paleolithic grotto in the vicinity of the village of Marquet, east of Les Eyzies, in the Dordogne Department, in southwestern France. Laussel was excavated by the French archaeologist G. Lalanne in 1908-11. It contains eight cultural layers, encompassing the epochs from the Acheulean and Mousterian cultures to the Solutrean. The layer belonging to the Aurignacian culture yielded realistic bas-reliefs of human figures cut on blocks and slabs of limestone. Of particular interest are the representations of a nude woman, holding a bison horn, and of a man throwing a spear. According to the conjectures of the Soviet archaeologist S. N. Zamiatnin, the bas-reliefs were part of one composition depicting a group hunting magical rite.