Spatula

Spatulas are usually made of antler or bone, and are typical of the Upper Paleolithic period. This period saw a significant increase in the range of objects made from bone, many of which have survived to the present day. They are smooth and come in a variety of different shapes. Some have decorations on one or both sides. We do not know what they were used for, but they would have been used on flexible materials such as hide. This spatula is from the excavations carried out by H. Alcalde del Río at the cave of Altamira in the early twentieth century. It has an elongated shape and is wider at the ends, forming a head or handle decorated with some engravings on either side of the front and back.