Du Bout-du-Monde (Les Eyzies, Dordogne, France) jusqu’à Neuchâtel (Suisse) : itinéraire et nature d’une collection d’art mobilier paléolithique (collection Vogt, Laténium)

EnglishThe Vogt collection of the Latenium (Neuchâtel, Switzerland) includes six pieces of engraved and/or sculpted Paleolithic portable art, either completely unpublished or only published in part. These finds come from Le Bout-du-Monde rock shelter (Les Eyzies, Dordogne, France), which was excavated between 1908 and 1910 by a certain Lucas, an assistant teacher at Les Eyzies and subsequently in 1945 by Denis Peyrony (1869-1954), who recorded the archaeo-sequence and the stratigraphy of the site. The stratigraphy was made up of four sedimentary layers, numbered from A to D from top to bottom (D- earth and scree : 0.40 m thick; C- river sands containing archaeological material: 0.30 m thick; B- Dry calcareous scree from the desquamation of the shelter walls, with fluvial sands: 0.50 cm thick; A- fluvial sands, with some calcareous scree with blunt edges. In this level, Peyrony reported the presence of a reindeer antler: 1.55 m thick) and the bedrock. While there is a possible presence of the Middle phase of the Magdalenian, the Upper and Final stages of the Magdalenian, as well as the Azilian, are, on the other hand, well documented and used by most authors to date the artefacts unearthed at Le Bout-du-Monde. The Vogt collection consists of a collection of different objects. A broken perforated baton made of reindeer antler (Rangifer tarandus) engraved with five bison heads in left profile and a stallion horse seen in right profile. A fragment of horse scapula (Equus caballus) engraved with a horse?€?s head in right profile used the spongy tissue of the bone to depict the animal's mane. A reindeer in left profile appears on a fragment of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) right mandible. A one end of a hemi-rib from an animal larger than a reindeer is engraved and sculpted in the shape of a fish tail, perhaps from the salmon family. Moreover, there is a diaphysis portion of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) tibia, engraved with a multitude of non-figurative drawings, made prior to the probable figuration of a feline. A limestone pebble depicts a deer with a disproportionate body (a female), next to which a fawn appears in a sitting position. Comparing these objects with the unpublished records made by Henri Breuil (1877-1961) and kept in the central library of the Museum national d'histoire naturelle of Paris (Breuil iconographic collection) shows that the engraved and sculpted artefacts have been well preserved. However, the surfaces of certain objects such as the broken perforated baton made from reindeer antler have deteriorated, as some marks seem to have disappeared over time. Finally, a schist plate engraved with the left profile of a bison is only known by a tracing by Henri Breuil. There is no information on the stratigraphic and spatial position of the archaeological material in the rock-shelter. However, it does not seem to date earlier than the Middle Magdalenian. Pending the direct dating of the organic supports, the question of a date earlier than the Upper Magdalenian (Azilian) is left open. The research conducted on the Vogt collection has traced the path of these objects from their discovery at the beginning of the 20th century to their acquisition for the Latenium. While Lucas sold Le Bout-du-Monde material immediately after their discovery to Otto Hauser (1874-1932), they were then acquired by a "Swiss amateur" who seems to be Emil Vogt (1906-1974), a prominent figure in 20th century European prehistory, before being finally sold by his heirs in 1991. The journey of the Palaeolithic portable art of the Vogt collection is replaced in the historical context of the constitution of the Latenium collections, and more broadly within the dynamics of the transfer of prehistoric antiquities between Switzerland and France, which started in the middle of the 19th century. This historical analysis highlights the scientific motives behind the collectors' acquisition, characterised by a widespread export of Swiss lake-dwelling materials, partly counterbalanced by the targeted import into Switzerland of archaeological remains from Palaeolithic reference sites of the Perigord, including pieces of portable art. francaisLa collection Vogt du Latenium (Neuchâtel, Suisse) comprend six pieces d'art mobilier paleolithique, gravees et/ou sculptees, totalement ou partiellement inedites. Ce materiel archeologique provient de l'abri-sous-roche du Bout-du-Monde (Les Eyzies, Dordogne, France), fouille entre 1908 et 1910 par un denomme Lucas, instituteur-adjoint aux Eyzies, puis en 1945 par Denis Peyrony (1869-1954), qui en a etabli la stratigraphie et l'archeosequence. Si la presence de la phase moyenne du Magdalenien n'est que possible, en revanche, les stades superieur et final du Magdalenien, ainsi que l'Azilien, sont bien attestes. La collection Vogt comprend un bâton perce en bois de renne, un fragment de scapula de cheval, un fragment de mandibule et une portion diaphysaire de tibia de renne, une hemi-cote faconnee du type « spatule en os », et un galet calcaire. Une gravure sur plaquette de schiste, connue uniquement par un releve d'Henri Breuil et non localisee, complete l'inventaire. Les traces paleolithiques renvoient a des images de bison, renne, cheval, poisson et felin (?). Une attribution plus ancienne que le Magdalenien moyen pour cet art mobilier non localise dans la stratigraphie du gisement n?€?est pas envisagee. La question d'une chronologie plus basse que le Magdalenien superieur (Azilien) est laissee ouverte, dans l'attente de datation directe du materiel organique. Si Lucas a vendu, des la fin de ses fouilles, le materiel du Bout-du-Monde a Otto Hauser (1874-1932), ces pieces ont ensuite ete acquises par un «amateur suisse» qui semble bien etre Emil Vogt (1906-1974), figure notable de la prehistoire europeenne du xxe siecle, avant d'etre finalement revendues en 1991 par ses heritiers et acquises pour le Latenium. Cet ensemble est representatif de la dynamique des transferts d'antiquites prehistoriques entre la Suisse et la France, depuis le milieu du xixe siecle. Caracterisees par une exportation generalisee de materiaux palafittiques suisses, les strategies d'acquisition des collectionneurs sont contrebalancees, pour l'essentiel, en Suisse, par l'importation ciblee de vestiges archeologiques issus des sites de reference paleolithiques du Perigord, notamment des pieces d'art mobilier.