This decorated baton is made from a reindeer antler. At the bottom of the shaft there is an oval perforation. Further up, on the palmate where the antler shaft becomes broad and flat between the upper tines, a horse leaps from the end. Its back legs are carved in low relief on either side of the shaft and the body and head are sculpted in the round. With the hind legs extended backwards, the front legs bent up to the body and the head reaching forward, the sculptor captured the movement of the horse in mid-air.

Montastruc rockshelter, Tarn-et-Garonne, France.

Musée d’Archéologie Nationale, St Germain-en-Laye, Paris, France.

The most widely-spread and best-known Palaeolithic culture, which started around 17,000 years ago and ended around 11,000 years ago. Its name derives from the La Madeleine site in Dordogne, France. Some of the high points in cave art in all its forms - sculpture, black drawings, polychrome painting, modelling and engraving - are to be found in this period.

Source: Dr Jean Clottes

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