Tectiform Signs
Parietal art
Font de Gaume type, Dordogne
Magdalenian
21 000 to 14 000 years
… “sign” because geometric figures contrast with habitual naturalistic images; “tectiform” because these signs naturally evoke the frame of a roof or hut.
A. de Mortillet, La Préhistoire, Paris, 1910
Commentary :
Geometric and abstract signs are abundant in prehistoric art. These representations are described and classified according to their specific form and structure: quadrangular signs, claviforms, tectiforms, etc. This type of non-figurative expression, which is widespread across Europe, carries a symbolic code, whose meaning will forever remain a mystery. Typical tectiform signs are known from only four caves in the Vézère Valley : Bernifal, Rouffignac, Les Combarelles and Font-de-Gaume.
At Font-de-Gaume, several very elaborate tectiform signs, are associated with bison and date to the Magdalenian period, including one composed entirely of dots.