La Madeleine Bison Replica

sketchfab

The Bison plaque of La Madeleine (Tursac, France) depicts a bison intensely licking its back. Crafted on bone through precise incision with stone-tipped tools, this relic dates back to the Upper Palaeolithic era, spanning from approximately 17,000 to 10,000 years ago. Discovered during Édouard Lartet's excavations conducted between 1863 and 1865, it is now a prized permanent exhibit at the Palaeolithic International Museum of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil. This digital model was painstakingly recreated through photogrammetry using Agisoft Metashape (version 1.5.3). A total of 180 high-resolution images were taken of a meticulously crafted resin replica of the artifact, which were then meticulously processed and scaled using advanced software tools. Unfortunately, the morphology of the piece presented a significant challenge in capturing its base, resulting in an incomplete model that fails to close in that area. Nevertheless, the majority of the plaque's defining features remain intact.