The venuses block from Arlanpe Cave (Northern Iberian Peninsula): implications for the origins and dispersion of Gönnersdorf‐Lalinde style depictions throughout the European Magdalenian

Abstract

In 2011, an engraved limestone block was found in the cave of Arlanpe (Lemoa, northern Iberian Peninsula). One of the figures represented on it was identified as a schematic feminine representation similar to those of the Gönnersdorf‐Lalinde style. The stratigraphical position of the block is not totally clear owing to severe disturbance in the Upper Pleistocene deposits located near the entrance sector of the cave. Nevertheless, the most probable stratigraphical correlation is with Level I, which has been dated to the beginning of the Middle Magdalenian. This finding extends the distribution range of this kind of representation to the northern Iberian Peninsula, where, up to now, only two other, less clear, Gönnersdorf‐Lalinde style representations have been found. It also extends its chronological range, pushing it back to the beginning of the Middle Magdalenian. In this paper, we present the archaeological context of the engraved block, followed by a detailed description of technological and stylistic features. These data will be used to discuss the implication of this discovery for an understanding of the origins, expansion and diffusion of this kind of feminine representation across Europe.