TheUpper Paleolithic (orUpper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of thePaleolithic or OldStone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of theHolocene), according to some theories coinciding with the appearance ofbehavioral modernity in early modern humans. It is followed by theMesolithic.
Anatomically modern humans (i.e.Homo sapiens) are believed to have emerged inAfrica around 300,000 years ago. It has been argued by some that their ways of life changed relatively little from that ofarchaic humans of theMiddle Paleolithic,[1] until about 50,000 years ago, when there was a marked increase in the diversity ofartefacts found associated with modern human remains. This period coincides with the most common date assigned toexpansion of modern humans from Africa throughout Asia and Eurasia, which may have contributed to theextinction of the Neanderthals.
The Upper Paleolithic has the earliest known evidence of organizedsettlements, in the form of campsites, some with storage pits.Artistic work blossomed, with cave painting,petroglyphs, carvings and engravings on bone or ivory. The first evidence of human fishing is also found from a 125,000 years old artefacts inBuya,Eritrea and in other places such asBlombos cave inSouth Africa. More complexsocial groupings emerged, supported by more varied and reliable food sources and specializedtool types. This probably contributed to increasing group identification orethnicity.[2]
BothHomo erectus andNeanderthals used the same crude stone tools. ArchaeologistRichard G. Klein, who has worked extensively on ancient stone tools, describes the stone tool kit of archaichominids as impossible to categorize. He argues that almost everywhere, whetherAsia, Africa orEurope, before 50,000 years ago all the stone tools are much alike and unsophisticated.
Firstly among the artefacts of Africa, archeologists found they could differentiate and classify those of less than 50,000 years into many different categories, such as projectile points, engraving tools, knife blades, and drilling and piercing tools. These new stone-tool types have been described as being distinctly differentiated from each other; each tool had a specific purpose. The early modern humans who expanded into Europe, commonly referred to as theCro-Magnons, left many sophisticated stone tools, carved and engraved pieces on bone,ivory andantler,cave paintings andVenus figurines.[3][4][5]
The Neanderthals continued to useMousterian stone tool technology and possiblyChâtelperronian technology. Thesetools disappeared from the archeological record at around the same time the Neanderthals themselves disappeared from the fossil record, about 40,000 cal BP.[6]
Stone core for making fine blades, Boqer Tachtit, Negev,Israel, c. 40,000 BP
Settlements were often located in narrow valley bottoms, possibly associated with hunting of passingherds of animals. Some of them may have been occupied year round, though more commonly they appear to have been used seasonally; people moved between the sites to exploit different food sources at different times of the year. Hunting was important, andcaribou/wild reindeer "may well be the species of single greatest importance in the entireanthropological literature on hunting".[7]
The changes in human behavior have been attributed to changes in climate, encompassing a number of globaltemperature drops. These led to a worsening of the already bitter cold of thelast glacial period (popularly but incorrectly called the lastice age). Such changes may have reduced the supply of usabletimber and forced people to look at other materials. In addition, flint becomes brittle at low temperatures and may not have functioned as a tool.
Art ofLascaux, with painted animal, and four dots, a possible notation forLunar months[9]
Some notational signs, used next to images of animals, may have appeared as early as theUpper Palaeolithic in Europe circa 35,000 BCE, and may be the earliestproto-writing: several symbols were used in combination as a way to convey seasonal behavioural information about hunted animals.[9] Lines (|) and dots (•) were apparently used interchangeably to denote lunar months, while the (Y) sign apparently signified "To give birth". These characters were seemingly combined to convey the breeding period of hunted animals.[9]
The Upper Paleolithic covered the second half of theLast glacial period from 50,000 to 10,000 before present, until the warming of theHolocene.Ice core data from Antarctica andGreenland.
The climate of the period in Europe saw dramatic changes, and included theLast Glacial Maximum, the coldest phase of thelast glacial period, which lasted from about 26.5 to 19 kya, being coldest at the end, before relatively rapid warming (all dates vary somewhat for different areas, and in different studies). During the Maximum, most of Northern Europe was covered by anice-sheet, forcing human populations into the areas known asLast Glacial Maximum refugia, including modern Italy and theBalkans, parts of theIberian Peninsula and areas around theBlack Sea.
This period saw cultures such as theSolutrean in France and Spain. Human life may have continued on top of the ice sheet, but we know next to nothing about it, and very little about the human life that preceded the European glaciers. In the early part of the period, up to about 30 kya, theMousterian Pluvial made northern Africa, including theSahara, well-watered and with lower temperatures than today; after the end of the Pluvial the Sahara became arid.
The Last Glacial Maximum was followed by theAllerød oscillation, a warm and moist globalinterstadial that occurred around 13.5 to 13.8 kya. Then there was a very rapid onset, perhaps within as little as a decade, of the cold and dryYounger Dryas climate period, givingsub-arctic conditions to much of northern Europe. ThePreboreal rise in temperatures also began sharply around 10.3 kya, and by its end around 9.0 kya had brought temperatures nearly to present day levels, although the climate was wetter.[citation needed]This period saw the Upper Paleolithic give way to the start of the followingMesolithic cultural period.
As the glaciers receded sea levels rose; theEnglish Channel,Irish Sea andNorth Sea were land at this time, and the Black Sea a fresh-water lake. In particular the Atlantic coastline was initially far out to sea in modern terms in most areas, though the Mediterranean coastline has retreated far less, except in the north of theAdriatic and theAegean. The rise in sea levels continued until at least 7.5 kya (5500 BC), so evidence of human activity along Europe's coasts in the Upper Paleolithic is mostly lost, though some traces have been recovered by fishing boats andmarine archaeology, especially fromDoggerland, the lost area beneath the North Sea.[citation needed]
Known archaeological remains in Europe and Africa ofanatomically modern humans: directly dated, calibrated carbon dates as of 2013[10]: e72931 Layer sequence atKsar Akil in theLevantine corridor, and discovery of two fossils ofHomo sapiens, dated to 40,800 to 39,200 years BP for "Egbert",[10]: e72931 and 42,400–41,700 BP for "Ethelruda"[10]: e72931
Numerous Aboriginal stone tools were found ingravel sediments inCastlereagh, Sydney, Australia. At first when these results were new they were controversial; more recently dating of the same strata has revised and corroborated these dates.[11][12]
Earliest evidence of modern humans found in Europe, in Southern Italy.[18] These are indirectly dated.[10]: 6
Earliest mathematical artifact, the notchedLebombo bone, a possible tally stick or lunar calendar, dated to 44,000–43,000 BP inEswatini (Swaziland), southern Africa.[19]
Oldest-known mining in archaeological record, theNgwenya Mine in Swaziland, at about 43,000 years ago, where humans minedhematite to make the red pigmentochre.[20][21]
Notational signs in caves, apparently conveyingcalendaric meaning about the behaviour of animal species drawn next to them, arethe first known (proto-)writing in history(seeabove).[26][9]
Most of the giant vertebrates andmegafauna in Australia became extinct.
Examples ofcave art in Spain are dated from around 40,000 BP, making them the oldest examples of cave art yet discovered in Europe (see:Caves of Nerja). Scientists theorise that the paintings may have been made byNeanderthals, rather than by modern humans.[27][28]
Wall painting with horses, rhinoceroses and aurochs is made atChauvet Cave,Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, Ardéche gorge, France. Discovered in December 1994.
Evidence for continued Neanderthal presence in the Iberian Peninsula at 37,000 years ago was published in 2017.[29]
Artifacts suggests early human activity occurred at some point inCanberra, Australia.[39] Archaeological evidence of settlement in the region includes inhabitedrock shelters,rock art, burial places, camps and quarry sites, and stone tools and arrangements.[40]
Last Glacial Maximum. Meansea levels are believed to be 110 to 120 metres (360 to 390 ft)lower than present,[41] with the direct implication that many coastal and lower riverine valley archaeological sites of interest are today under water.
TheChâtelperronian culture was located around central and south western France, and northern Spain. It appears to be derived from theMousterian culture, and represents the period of overlap betweenNeanderthals andHomo sapiens. This culture lasted from approximately 45,000 BP to 40,000 BP.[6]
TheAurignacian culture was located in Europe and south west Asia, and flourished between 43,000 and 26,000 BP. It may have been contemporary with thePérigordian (a contested grouping of the earlier Châtelperronian and later Gravettian cultures).
TheGravettian culture was located across Europe. Gravettian sites generally date between 33,000 and 20,000 BP.
TheSolutrean culture was located in eastern France, Spain, and England. Solutrean artifacts have been dated c. 22,000 to 17,000 BP.
TheMagdalenian culture left evidence from Portugal to Poland during the period from 17,000 to 12,000 BP.
Gilman, Antonio (1996). "Explaining the Upper Palaeolithic Revolution". Pp. 220–239 (Chap. 8) inContemporary Archaeology in Theory: A Reader. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
^"In North America and Eurasia the species has long been an important resource—in many areasthe most important resource—for peoples' inhabiting the northernboreal forest andtundra regions. Known human dependence on caribou/wild reindeer has a long history, beginning in theMiddle Pleistocene (Banfield 1961:170; Kurtén 1968:170) and continuing to the present. ... The caribou/wild reindeer is thus an animal that has been a major resource for humans throughout a tremendous geographic area and across a time span of tens of thousands of years." Ernest S. Burch, Jr."The Caribou/Wild Reindeer as a Human Resource",American Antiquity, Vol. 37, No. 3 (July 1972), pp. 339–368.
^Backwell, L; d'Errico, F; Wadley, L (2008). "Middle Stone Age bone tools from the Howiesons Poort layers, Sibudu Cave, South Africa".Journal of Archaeological Science.35 (6):1566–1580.Bibcode:2008JArSc..35.1566B.doi:10.1016/j.jas.2007.11.006.
^Lombard M, Phillips L (2010). "Indications of bow and stone-tipped arrow use 64,000 years ago in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa".Antiquity.84 (325):635–648.doi:10.1017/S0003598X00100134.S2CID162438490.
^Lombard M (2011). "Quartz-tipped arrows older than 60 ka: further use-trace evidence from Sibudu, Kwa-Zulu-Natal, South Africa".Journal of Archaeological Science.38 (8):1918–1930.Bibcode:2011JArSc..38.1918L.doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.04.001.
^Bowdler, Sandra. "Human settlement". In Denoon, D. (ed.).The Cambridge History of the Pacific Islanders. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. pp. 41–50. Cited inBowdler, Sandra."The Pleistocene Pacific".University of Western Australia. Archived fromthe original on 16 February 2008. Retrieved26 February 2008.
^Isabel Ellender and Peter Christiansen,People of the Merri Merri. The Wurundjeri in Colonial Days, Merri Creek Management Committee, 2001ISBN0-9577728-0-7
^Gary Presland,The First Residents of Melbourne's Western Region (revised edition), Harriland Press, 1997.ISBN0-646-33150-7. Presland says on page 1: "There is some evidence to show that people were living in theMaribyrnong River valley, near present dayKeilor, about 40,000 years ago."
^Pettitt, Paul; White, Mark (2012).The British Palaeolithic: hominin societies at the edge of the Pleistocene world. London: Routledge. p. 415.ISBN978-0415674546.
^Keiji Imamura,Prehistoric Japan: New perspectives on insular East Asia University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1996ISBN0-8248-1853-9
^Flood, J. M.; David, B.; Magee, J.; English, B. (1987), "Birrigai: a Pleistocene site in the south eastern highlands",Archaeology in Oceania,22:9–22,doi:10.1002/j.1834-4453.1987.tb00159.x
^Gillespie, Lyall (1984).Aborigines of the Canberra Region. Canberra: Wizard (Lyall Gillespie). pp. 1–25.ISBN978-0-9590255-0-7.
^M. Mirazón Lahr et al.,"Inter-group violence among early Holocene hunter-gatherers of West Turkana, Kenya",Nature 529, 394–398 (21 January 2016),doi:10.1038/nature16477."Here we report on a case of inter-group violence towards a group of hunter-gatherers from Nataruk, west of Lake Turkana ... Ten of the twelve articulated skeletons found at Nataruk show evidence of having died violently at the edge of a lagoon, into which some of the bodies fell. The remains ... offer a rare glimpse into the life and death of past foraging people, and evidence that warfare was part of the repertoire of inter-group relations among prehistoric hunter-gatherers.""Evidence of a prehistoric massacre extends the history of warfare". University of Cambridge. 20 January 2016. Retrieved20 March 2017..For early depiction of interpersonal violence in rock art see:Taçon, Paul;Chippindale, Christopher (October 1994). "Australia's Ancient Warriors: Changing Depictions of Fighting in the Rock Art of Arnhem Land, N.T.".Cambridge Archaeological Journal.4 (2):211–48.doi:10.1017/S0959774300001086.S2CID162983574..
^Mulvaney, D J and White, Peter, 1987, Australians to 1788, Fairfax, Syme & Weldon, Sydney
^Gary Presland,Aboriginal Melbourne: The Lost Land of the Kulin People, Harriland Press (1985), Second edition 1994,ISBN0-9577004-2-3. This book describes in some detail the archaeological evidence regarding aboriginal life, culture, food gathering and land management, particularly the period from the flooding of Bass Strait and Port Phillip from about 7–10,000 years ago, up to the European colonisation in the nineteenth century.
^Dousset, Laurent (2005)."Daruk".AusAnthrop Australian Aboriginal tribal database. Archived fromthe original on 9 April 2011. Retrieved27 August 2012.
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