Gravettian

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adjective

Of or relating to a specific archaeological tool-making industry of the European Upper Paleolithic era prevalent before the last glacial maximum, c. 33000–20000 BCE.

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Meanings

adjectiveGravettian (not comparable)
  1. not comparablearchaeologyOf or relating to a specific archaeological tool-making industry of the European Upper Paleolithic era prevalent before the last glacial maximum, c. 33000–20000 BCE.

    Recently, two additional Gravettian sites, Troyanove 4 and Ozerove, have been explored in central Ukraine (Zaliznyak et al. 2007).

    2020, Malcolm C. Lillie, Inna D. Potekhina, editors, Prehistoric Ukraine: From the First Hunters to the First Farmers, Oxbow Books, →ISBN, page 73

Origin

Coined by English archaeologist Dorothy Garrod in 1938, named after the site of La Gravette in the Dordogne region of France, where the characteristic tools were first found and studied.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French gravettien
  • gravettienTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

Gravettian. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gravettian

MLA

“Gravettian.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gravettian. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Gravettian,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gravettian.

Source: Gravettian on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.