The Magdalenian (French: Magdalénien) refers to one of the later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic in western Europe .It is named after the type site of La Madeleine, a rock shelter located in the Vézère valley, commune of Tursac, in the Dordogne department of France.
The culture spans the period between c. 17,000 and 12,000 before the present era (BPE), toward the end of the last ice age. The Magdalenien tool culture is characterised by regular blade
industries struck from carinated cores. Typologically, the Magdalenian is divided into six phases which are generally agreed to have chronological significance. The earliest phases are recognised
by the varying proportion of blades and specific varieties of scrapers, the middle phases marked by the emergence of a microlithic component (particularly the distinctive denticulated
microliths), and the later phases by the presence of uniserial (phase 5) and biserial 'harpoons' (phase 6) made of bone, antler, and ivory.