Bone stick representing a jumping horse, which comes from the site of Bruniquel (Tarn-et-Garonne, France) and belongs to the Magdalenian period (17,000-11,000 years B.P.). Similar artifacts have been interpreted as spear-throwers (propulseurs), tools employed to achieve more strength in throwing darts or arrows. In this case, the lack of the hook-shaped spur at the upper end, used for clasping the butt of the dart, suggests that the purpose of this object was primarily symbolic. According to Leroi-Gourhan’s interpretation, the horse is associated mainly to male sexual symbolism and it forms, together with the bison (which is related to female symbols), a set of symbolic couples, based on the opposition/complementarity between male and female (Leroi-Gourhan 1981). The artifact is exhibited at the Musée des Antiquités nationales, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Paris, France.

[Image: http://fr.topic-topos.com/baton-perce-avec-un-cheval-sautant-saint-germain-en-laye]