The Upper Paleolithic PeriodThe Upper Paleolithic Period

40,000 to 10,000 ya

The Upper PaleolithicThe Upper Paleolithic

By 28 kya Neanderthals gone.

Humans expand into most of the world.

Art appears and spreads.

Numerous technological innovations occur.

Domestication of the Dog

Summary of ChronologySummary of Chronology Basal Paleolithic

– 2.5 to 1.8 mya– Time of Homo habilis– Olduwan tools

Lower Paleolithic– 1.8 m to 250 kya– Time of Homo erectus– Acheulean hand axes

Middle Paleolithic– 250 to 40 kya– Time of H. neanderthalensis– Mousterian tools

The Upper Paleolithic40 to 10 kya

ChatelperronianAurignacianGravettianSolutreanMagdalenian

Tool IndustriesTool Industries These are tool complexes that are associated and are

useful time markers for the UP.– Chatelperronian = intermediate Mousterian to Aurignacian

– Aurignacian 36 – 22 kya. Earliest “blade industry.”

– Gravettian 33 – 22 kya. Thinner, more finely made blades than Aurignacian.

– Solutrean 22 – 18 kya. Extremely refined blade technology.

– Magdalenian 18 – 10 kya. Final UP blade industry. ART.

Two important definitionsTwo important definitions

Blades = flakes that are at least twice as long as they are wide.

Composite tools = ones formed from multiple materials.– E.g., a spear has a stone point, wooden shaft,

bone fore-shaft, sinew hafting, and resins.

Mousterian Technology (Middle Paleolithic)

Making blades during the Upper Paleolithic Period.

Composite tools during the Upper Paleolithic Period.

www.hf.uio.no/iakk/ roger/lithic

Aurignacian Tools: 40 to 30 kya in Europe

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Aurignacian Tools40 to 30 kya

Early Upper PaleolithicEurope

Other Features of the AurignacianOther Features of the Aurignacian

Diverse, efficient, flexible tool kit. Beads & Jewelry made from mammal bones &

teeth. Bone needles & awls suggesting tailored clothing. Portable art of engraved bone and ivory

– Southern Germany: Vogelherd Cave & Hohlenstein Stadel.

– Grotte du Renne, France.

Tool IndustriesTool Industries These are tool complexes that are associated and are

useful time markers for the UP.– Chatelperronian = intermediate Mousterian to Aurignacian

– Aurignacian 36 – 22 kya. Earliest “blade industry.”

– Gravettian 33 – 22 kya. Thinner, more finely made blades than Aurignacian.

– Solutrean 22 – 18 kya. Extremely refined blade technology.

– Magdalenian 18 – 10 kya. Final UP blade industry. ART.

www.hf.uio.no/iakk/ roger/lithic

Gravettian Tools30 to 20 kya

Mid Upper PaleolithicEurope

Two Important Gravettian SitesTwo Important Gravettian Sites

Dolni Vestonice 27 kya (Czech Republic)– Complex campsite.

Kostenki 27 kya (Russia).– Nine pit houses– Hearths in centers of huts– Storage pits cut into permafrost

Dolni Vestonice

Dolni Vestonice

Kostenki

Bone-framed house

Implications of SitesImplications of Sites

People becoming a bit more sedentaryDiet, however, still hunting & gathering

– Find large herbivore remains– Small mammals remains– Some fish bones

www.hf.uio.no/iakk/ roger/lithic

Solutrean Tools: 22 to 18 kya in Europe

The DogThe Dog

Domestication = an organism relying on humans for survival & reproduction.

Dogs come from wolves, which are pack animals.

Dogs have abilities that humans don’t have.

The Venus FigurinesThe Venus Figurines

Portable art that appeared during the Upper Paleolithic period.

Female figures carved from soft stone or mammoth bone.

Thought to symbolize fertility.

Venus of Gagarino, UkraineVenus of Willendorf, Austria

Implication of FigurinesImplication of Figurines

Suggest communication and interaction over long distances.

Suggest symbolic thinking.

Cave PaintingCave Painting

Painters used charcoal & red ochre

Lascaux: (France) emphasis on animal paintings; human renderings are simple.

Altamira: (Spain) use of natural features of the cave to enhance animal art.

Chauvet Cave: (discovered 1994).

Chauvet Cave 33 – 20 kyaChauvet Cave 33 – 20 kya

Large cave galleriesCompositional groupings of herbivores &

predators.Find rare species not depicted in other

caves: rhino, lion, long-eared owl, & hyena.Appear to be stylistically unified (same

culture).

Lascaux 34 – 12 kya

Chauvet Cave, France 33 - 20 kya

The MagdalenianThe Magdalenian

20 – 10 kya. Stone/bone tool industry becomes more diverse.

– Microlithic blades.– New weapons (e.g., harpoon).

Large scale climate change occurred (deglaciation). Sites were occupied for longer than during Gravettian

(more sedentary). – Important sites: Madeliene Rockshelter, Laugerie Haute– People lived there for entire seasons, not year round.

Magdalenian Tools20 to 10 kyaLate Upper Paleolithic

Mezhirich, RussiaMagdalenian

Summary of Upper PaleolithicSummary of Upper Paleolithic

Diet became gradually more diversePeople became gradually less mobileArtwork proliferatesClimate warms, deglaciation during

MagdalenianSets the stage for more regionalization and

diversification during the Mesolithic

The MesolithicThe Mesolithic

The transition from foraging to farming

The MesolithicThe Mesolithic

Starts at roughly 10 kya in many areasEnds when agriculture is firmly establishedThe last ice age is definitely over

– Climate becoming gradually warmer

Diet continues to changePatterns of the Mesolithic are widespread

Diet is diverseDiet is diverse

Find all kinds of fishing equipmentGround-stone toolsDiverse projectile weapons from many

materialsSome cultivation is apparent

– Cultigens are plants that are cultivated but this does not equal domestication.

WidespreadWidespread

This diet pattern can be seen from England to Japan

There are 35,000 Mesolithic sites along the coast of Japan

Let’s discuss one site, Nittano (Japan)– Constantly occupied from 6 to 5 kya

NittanoNittano

There were roughly 4 to 8 pithouses at any one time (they were often rebuilt)

These houses had stone-lined hearths

It is thought that people settled here year-round

Intensification of architecture is important

Broad Spectrum RevolutionBroad Spectrum Revolution

BSR refers to the way people adapted around 15 kya in the Middle East & 12 kya in Europe. During the Mesolithic, many plants & animals were hunted, gathered, collected, caught, & fished.

Farming and life as we know it grows out of the BSR.

BSR & MesolithicBSR & Mesolithic

Star Carr (England)Vedbaek (Denmark)Nittano (Japan)Elands Bay (South Africa)Mount Sandel (Ireland)

It really is broad!