Hierarchy classification:

1. top of the aat hierarchies
2. Styles and Periods Facet
3. Styles and Periods (hierarchy name)
4. [styles, periods, and cultures by region]
5. Early Western World
6. [ancient European styles and periods]
7. [European Upper Paleolithic styles and periods]
8. [Western European Upper Paleolithic styles and periods]

Anotations

Scope note:

Refers to a stage of Upper Paleolithic stone tool making found in France, Italy, and Russia. It was formerly thought to be a late stage of Aurignacian culture, but is now held to overlap with Upper Perigordian. It may be linked to Cro-Magnon peoples and is characterized by the hunting of horses in the west and mammoths in the east, the use of red ochre as pigment, and the creation of "Venus" figures, jewelry, and various tools. The Gravettian industry differs from the Aurignacian in its use of "backed blades," which are tools created with a retouching technique that results in one blunt edge. Gravettian industry in Russia is often called East Gravettian.