Eight of the 12 unbroken figurines from Grimaldi are perforated for suspension (Figure 13) and others such as la figurine en ivoire brun, have carved furrows suggestive of suspension. Of course, suspension can take many forms in addition to the wearing of these objects on the body. For example, they may have been suspended inside dwellings attached to articles such as skin bags and baskets.
Like many of the Gravettian figurines recovered to date, the Grimaldi specimens were found (to the best of our knowledge) carefully placed in an area peripheral to intense human occupation. They come from two sites, the Grotte du Prince and Barma Grande. While those from the Barma Grande were recovered from occupational horizons, those from the Grotte du Prince were found in a small niche adjacent to the main cave. Michael Bisson and I are working on comparisons of sediment on the figurines with that still adhering to artifacts of known stratigraphic provenience. More interpretively, we have proposed (Bisson and White 1996) particular use contexts for the Grimaldi figurines, to which I now turn.
The Grimaldi sculptures, which are small and designed for suspension, fit the ethnographic pattern of amulets or fetishes. However, the majority of human figurines made by living circumpolar peoples are significantly different from the Grimaldi figurines in gender ratio, a much higher frequency of facial and extremity detail, and a much lower incidence of genital and abdominal prominence. Since the circumpolar ethnographic record is clear that recent human sculptures were used to promote fertility, these contrasts strengthen our doubts about a fertility magic explanation. Nevertheless, given the tendency of depictive amulets to represent unambiguously the intended goal of the user (i.e.many hunting amulets were naturalistic sculptures of desired prey animals, it is most likely that the characteristics of the Grimaldi figurines refer to a reproductive context, and that this context was childbirth itself.
Use of the Grimaldi, and at least some other Gravettian female sculptures in the context of childbirth is consistant with an archaeological context in which they are often found in clusters as if cached away for future use; childbirth being an occasional occurrence in small human groups. Moreover, the idea that the sculptures themselves were perceived as having power is supported by recent finds from Avdeevo on the Russian Plain (Grigoriev 1996 and personal communication). There, in addition to purposeful pit-burial of whole sculptures, sometimes more than one to a pit, Govozdover and Grigoriev have found fragments of the same broken figure buried meters apart in meticulously dug pits of a special, cone-like form. If the sculptures were perceived as inherently powerful, it is easy to imagine that the disposal of broken examples would have been attended by great care and ritual.
Childbirth is both an emotionally charged and potentionally dangerous event. It is predictable in its general timing (i.e. the average length of gestation), but unpredictable as to the timing of the onset of labor, the sex of the offspring, and the survival of the mother and/or child. We hypothesize that the Grimaldi figurines are best interpreted as individually owned amulets meant to ensure the safe completion of pregnancy. Amulets employ the principle of similarity to influence the outcome of uncertain events. They are often made by their owners, although they may also be obtained from shamans. Since the ethnographic record shows that in many societies amulets are thought to gain power with age, the sculptures may have been passed from mother to daughter over a number of generations.
This scenario also satisfies many of the legitimate demands of the feminist critique. It does not require the figurines to represent a generalized concept of womanhood, but instead recognizes that they may be produced by and for individual women, with no necessary inclusive or monolithic meaning that derives from gender alone. Individual production probably accounts for the great variability of the figurines. Our interpretation also does not imply the subordination or commoditization of women as do the fertility goddess (Gimbutas 1989), paleopornography (Guthrie 1979), and mating alliance (Gamble 1982) scenarios. Instead, we recognize the importance of women in themselves, not just as sources of babies, since we suspect the motivation behind these amulets was the survival of the mother rather than the baby. From this perspective, women are envisioned as taking active control of an important part of their lives using magical means that would have been entirely rational within their cultural context.
We conclude with the observation that the pregnancy symbolism of the Grimaldi figurines need not be their only symbolic meaning, although it would seem to be a primary one. Clan or guardian spirits may also be invoked, particularly by parts of the body such as heads, hair, duplicate faces, associated animals etc., that are not directly involved in our notions of reproduction. In each case these additional referents can be seen as statements by the makers of the figurines, perhaps with respect to the actual spiritual source from which the amulet draws its power.