The Upper Paleolithic Period 40,000 to 10,000 ya.
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Transcript of The 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.
Making blades during the Upper Paleolithic Period.
Composite tools during the Upper Paleolithic Period.
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.
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
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
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.
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).
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.
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
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.