Stone-carving with flint: experiments with a Magdalenian lamp

This paper describes some experiments in the making and use of a stone lamp of palaeolithic type. Along with torches, stone lamps are the earliest form of portable fire, and as PERLES (1977: 62) has pointed out, their invention in the Upper Palaeolithic indicates an increasing sophistication in man's use of his environment and in his manipulation of fire. Most of the palaeolithic lamps known come from early excavations, and unfortunately we cannot say much about their exact cultural context or chronology. However, the earliest examples are Upper Palaeolithic in date, and the more elaborate carved lamps with handles – of which only about a dozen are known – all come from the Magdalenian, or just possibly Solutreans of France (ROUSSOT 1974: 259).