Solutrean

Refers to the relatively short-lived culture that is named after the site at Solutré, France, and flourished primarily in southwestern France and nearby areas from around 21,000 to 17,000 Before Present. The culture followed the Perigordian and Aurignacian cultures and was succeeded by the Magdalenian, but scholars disagree about whether the culture was an evolution of local traditions or an intrusion of new peoples into the area. It is characterized by the creation of the usual tools of the period, plus a new preoccupation with ornament, including bone jewelry, tools, and implements that are decorated and fashioned from stone chosen for its beauty, such as colored quartz and jasper, as well as distinctive symmetrical, bifacially flaked, laurel-leaf and shouldered flint points, some of which may have served a ritualistic rather than utilitarian function.