A 15,000-year-old 'sad bison' may have been a pocket charm

A small object from La Madeleine, the French site that gave its name to a whole Ice Age culture, is being described as a possible amulet in the shape of a bison. Its droopy look has earned it the nickname 'sad bison'. Archaeologists have not settled what it was for, and 'possible amulet' is the cautious phrasing. Still, a carved animal that someone presumably carried, rubbed or hung on a cord about 15,000 years ago shows people then had the same urge for small portable talismans.