Palaeo Vision – A DFG-AHRC Collaboration – Do you see the world through Ice Age eyes? – An interdisciplinary collaboration between archaeologists and psychologists to investigate plaquette art 16.000 years ago.

*by taking part, you are in with a chance to win a plaquette replica too!

Drag the slider from right to left to discover Upper Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) art!

Plaquette 130 from Gönnersdorf. The slider enhances the visibility of a horse’s head, facing towards the left. The nostril part of the face is partially visible. The white engraved lines are digitally enhanced, but is representative of a fresh engraving, leaving behind white residual marks in the surface of the plaquette.

LEARN MORE ABOUT PLAQUETTES &
3d ViSUALs HERE
(AND try another Slider too)

Project & Team Introductions

We are archaeologists and psychologists based in both Germany and the UK. Our interdisciplinary project combines methods from archaeology with those from the psychology of vision and action (haptics) to explore how people functioned in their living spaces in the past.

In particular, we focus on the 16,000 year old Upper Palaeolithic (Late Magdalenian) campsites of Gönnersdorf and Andernach-Martinsberg, located in the Central Rhineland, Germany.

Here is our team (from left-right): Prof. Paul Pettitt (Durham University, Archaeology, Principle Investigator, UK), Dr. Olaf Jöris (MONREPOS, RGZM, Co-Investigator), Prof. Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser (MONREPOS, RGZM, Principle Investigator, Germany), Dr. Lisa-Elen Meyering (Durham University, Archaeology, Postdoctoral Researcher). Prof. Robert Kentridge (Durham University, Psychology, Co-Investigator, Middle), Dr. Jérôme Robitaille (MONREPOS, RGZM, Postdoctoral Researcher).

Drag the slider upwards to reveal what lay beneath!

Please note: This slider might not work to its full potential on mobile devices (please simply click on the image itself rather than using the slider).

LEARN MORE ABOUT GÖNNERS-
DORF & ANDERNACH HERE

The engravings are best viewed at an oblique angle with the help of a torch. This will illuminate their essence.

Collaborative team meetings to discuss our latest findings.

Explore OUr MAIN RESEARCH QUESTIONS HERE
(And try ANOTHER IMAGE SLIDER)

A “pair” of engraved figures on a typical plaquette, these often called “females” of Gönnersdorf.

Inspecting even more plaquettes at museums and institutions that loan some of the collections.

The digital creation and preservation of the plaquettes are a key feature of our project!

Our team member, Jerome, using the RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging) dome to capture the engravings digitally.

The now overgrown plot of the site of Gönnersdorf, located in the closely built-up neighbourhood of Neuwied-Feldkirchen, Germany.

Your chance to take part!

Now, we will give you the opportunity to be part in our research first hand - discover the opportunities below. Your participation is entirely voluntary and by taking part you will be in with a chance to win a plaquette replica!

TAKE ME STRAIGHT TO
The 1st EXPERIMENT
(MOBILE & DESKTOP FRIENDLY )*

TAKE ME STRAIGHT TO
The 2nD EXPERIMENT (WORKS BEST ON DESKTOP)*

We are changing our online perception experiment each month – check back in:

1674212400

days

hours minutes seconds

until

OUR NEW PERCEPTION EXPERIMENT

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This project is made possible through the following partners:

AHRC DFG Research Grant (AH/V002899/1)

Palaeo Vision: Do you see the world through Ice Age eyes?