Major developments of the Upper Palaeolithic
1. Technological change and innovation.
2. A broadening of the subsistence base to include big game hunting, small mammal trapping, fishing and bird catching.
3. Manufacture of non-utilitarian objects, particularly those for personal adornment and cave paintings.
4. Larger more permanent settlement - increasing numbers, sizes and densities of habitation sites.
5. Greater social integration and trade as evidenced by the movement of raw materials over great distances.
6. The elaboration of burial practices, including the inclusion of personal items as grave offerings.
7. The production of art, particularly cave paintings and sculpture.

In general, the suggestion is that in this stage we finally see what we can refer to as modern human behavior, possibly associated with the first appearance of language as we know it. The argument is that the symbolic and linguistic aspects of culture are probably an interrelated package.

1. Upper Palaeolithic Technology
The numbers of tool types increase dramatically during the Upper Palaeolithic. Tools of the Upper Palaeolithic are highly specialized and some are designed for use on non-lithic material. This resulted in an increase in bone, antler and ivory objects that greatly increased the variety of material culture produced by these people.

Châtelporronian (Late Neanderthals in Europe) - more advanced than the preceding Mousterian because the tools are more finely made make they more efficient use of stone.

Aurignacian (European Upper Palaeolithic) - the tool making tradition of anatomically modern Homo sapiens of the European Upper Palaeolithic. Considered a far more sophisticated tool tradition than the preceding Mousterian and Middle Stone Age technologies.

Gravettian (27,000 to 21,000BP) - a tool tradition characterized by the production of small serrated knives.

Solutrean (21,000 to 16,000BP) - a tool tradition containing exquisitely made, symmetrically shaped and bifacially flaked projectile points.

Magdelanian (16,000 to 11,000) - a Late Upper Palaeolithic material culture of Europe that includes finely made barbed harpoon heads and tiny microblades.

2. Broadening of the Subsistence Base
An introduction of the hunting of large game in addition to small mammal trapping, fishing and bird catching. The use of large mammals may also be a function of glacial environments in which these types of game evolved. The evidence for increased large game hunting is not restricted to Europe, it also is seen in Africa during the period known as the Late Stone Age.

3. Manufacture of Non-utilitarian Objects
The manufacture of non-utilitarian items, including items of personal adornment such as necklaces, beads and pendants. Many of these pieces are well made and fashioned from rare or hard to obtain materials. It is suggested that these items demonstrate a growing awareness and significance of the individual in Upper Palaeolithic society.

4. Larger More Permanent Settlements
Upper Palaeolithic sites are generally much larger than Middle Paleolithic sites. Artifact densities are also far greater. This shows that Upper Palaeolithic peoples were re-visiting and re-using the same places on a more regular basis. Although this might not actually represent a more sedentary way of life, it indicates that Upper Palaeolithic peoples recognized, planned and utilized areas of abundant resources in a more systematic manner than ever before.

5. Greater Social Integration
The movement of raw materials over great distances through trade or other means suggests a preference and desire for goods and materials that goes beyond simple function. Highly prized materials such as obsidian have been found up to 500 kilometers from their source. The redistribution of these kinds of materials may well indicate the existence of an extensive network of trade and broad social connections.

6. The Elaboration of Burial Practices
Within the Upper Palaeolithic we see the introduction of complex burial ceremonialism not regularly seen before.

7. The Production of Art
The most obviously spectacular aspect of the Upper Palaeolithic is the art. Hundred caves, primarily located in southern France and northern Spain contain thousands of paintings dating from about 32,000BP to 10,000BP. They often depict naturalistic works of large and dangerous animals.

Some of the best known cave art sites are:

Altamira was discovered in 1879, and was the first site to be recognized. It was recently dated to approximately 14,000BP. The surprising quality of the paintings and their exceptionally well preserved state caused their specialists to doubt whether they were genuine.

Niaux site dates to about 12,000 BP. It has been known since the 17th century but was first documented in the early 1900s Henri Breuil.

Le Tuc d'Audoubert is dated to about 15,000 BP and is widely known for its well preserved bison figures modeled out of clay.

Les Trois Freres site is famous for the so-called "dancing sorcerer". Notwithstanding these odd combinations of traits, the figure is also staring directly out of the wall, while most cave art is in profile. It has been argued that these kinds of depictions are related to shamanistic practices, in which the meaning is culturally bound.

Peche Merle  was discovered in 1922. There are about 700 depictions, including a variety of animals. However, a distinctive feature of this site is the depiction of human hands. The site is quite early with a date of 25,000BP.

Lascaux is perhaps the most famous of all the cave art sites, with approximately 2000 images. The site is dated to about 17,000BP. It was discovered accidentally, in 1940. These paintings are perhaps best known for their true artistic character. They depict different animals (horses, bison, deer, bulls, etc.). Unlike figures from many other caves, the animals of Lascaux are full of motion.

Cosquer  was discovered in 1991 on the Mediterranean coast of France, near Marseilles. It is unique in having an underwater entrance and was discovered by divers. The entrance would have been available at the time of occupation. Many figures are atypical and include items not seen elsewhere, including pictures of Great Auk. Its age is also unexpected with a range of from 18,000 to 27,000BP.

Chauvet  is located in south central France was discovered in early 1995. It has monochrome line drawings and also polychrome paintings.  The drawings are spectacular, with some similarities to Lascaux in style, though not in colour.  Even more unexpected are the dates, ranging from 30,000 to 32,500 BP.

Motivations for Cave Art
It is argued that aspects of hunting magic, trophyism, calendar recording and religious mysticism are possible motivations for the production of Cave Art. It is also suggested that some art, comprised of geometric lines, dots, etc., was done while in a trance state, which are known as entoptic phenomenon. These kinds of images are said not to be culturally controlled, but rather are a result of the structure of the human optic system, and therefore are universal. These are also seen in cave art and are interpreted as the work of artists who have undergone similar changes in their state of consciousness as part of shamanistic beliefs. With Upper Palaeolithic art, it is safe to say that we are dealing with a very elaborate cultural base. Until recently it was thought that there was slow development at the beginning of the period. However, recent evidence shows that at some of the richest painting sites and symbolic carvings are very early.
 

The production of Upper Palaeolithic figurines are known in bone and antler, stone and baked clay.  Some of the better known pieces are called Venus Figurines, such as the Venus of Willendorf. Venus figurines represent one of the best known categories of sculpted art of about 32,000 to 10,000 years ago. They generally depict faceless women and have often been interpreted as a "mother goddess" or to reflect fertility. However, since these figurines portray a variety of shapes, sizes and ages of the women this popular interpretation is questionable.

The Meaning of Upper Palaeolithic Art
It is impossible to fully explain the art of the Upper Palaeolithic. However, what is clear is that people of this time had what we would consider to be "a human understanding" of the world around them. Through the production of art they demonstrated not only the extent of their talents, but just as importantly, their ability to perceive the world in which they lived, something which is truly a marker of being human.

The Discovery of "New Worlds"
From an American perspective the Upper Paleolithic time period is critical to the initial habitation of the New World. In fact, the origin of aboriginal peoples in the Americas appears to lie within two Upper Paleolithic cultures in Northeast Siberia: (1) Ma’lta Afontova (25,000-13,000 BP) and, (2) Dyuktai (18,000-10,000). It is argued that these Siberian cultures entered the New World via Beringia, a land mass that connected Siberia and Alaska at some time after 20,000 years ago.

We suspect that a number of Siberian sites dating from 18,000 to 14,000BP may represent the populations of the first Americans. For example, there are sites in the area of Ushki Lake in Kamchatka that possess bifacially worked stone points that are similar to stone tools that have been found at Nenana Complex sites on the Alaskan side of the Bering Strait.

Other sites, such as Dyuktai Cave in Central Siberia contain wedge-shaped stone cores and microblades that are very similar to another New World peoples known as the Denali Complex of the Palaeo Arctic Tradition, which might represent a second migration of Old World Upper Palaeolithic peoples into North America. The microblades may represent a similar technological adaptation to reindeer hunting on the open tundra. This idea is partially supported by linguistic, genetic, and physical anthropological evidence that suggests that there were at least Three Waves of Migration from these areas.

The evidence for the initial settlement of North America remains a contentious issue among archaeologists today. Briefly, one group argues that human groups first became established in North America during the last glacial maximum. This group believes that there is reliable evidence for early human occupation only as early as about 15,000 years ago. The other side argues that people could have migrated into North America at any time during the last Glaciation, possibly as early as 50,000 years ago. They argue that archaeological evidence exists that demonstrates such early settlement of the continent. Both groups generally agree, however, that the homeland for these early migrants is somewhere in northeast Asia and that the migrants probably moved into North America via the Bering Land Bridge.

To review the evidence for the initial human settlement of the Americas, it is necessary to:
1. determine when groups were present in northeast Asia
2. outline the ecology of Beringia (i.e. determine whether or not this environment was hospitable to human groups)
3. delineate the routes used in their migration southwards.

To do this, let's first take a look at the glacial timeline in this region:

Glacial time line during last half of the Upper Pleistocene
1. Wisconsin Glaciation: 100,0000 - 10,000 BP.
2. Exposure of Land Bridge due to cooling: 75-45,000 BP.
3. Partial flooding of Land Bridge due to warming: 40-25,000 BP.
4. Second exposure of Land Bridge due to cooling: 25,000 BP.
5. Flooding of Land Bridge due to warming period: after 14,000 BP.

Beringia Land Bridge
During the Wisconsin glaciation, a large percentage of the earth's water was locked up in glacial ice. This had the effect of lowering sea levels at a global level.  Between the northeastern tip of Siberia and the northwestern tip of Alaska, a broad stretch of land was exposed (Beringia) which effectively joining the continents of North America and Asia together. Physiographically, this land was an exposed coastal plain, dissected by many rivers.  Paleoclimatologists have different views as to what the environment and vegetation of this area would have been like. Some suggest that Beringia was a vast, treeless arctic plain that would have been much drier than arctic tundra today. Others suggest that it was a much more ecologically productive place, with mosaic of steppe vegetation with ponds and rivers.

The south coastal area of Beringia is comparable to coastal Alaska, and was probably an ecologically productive place, with grass dominated wetlands attracting large herbivores and a diverse arrangement of other species.  From archaeological remains, we know that bison, caribou, mammoth, and horse, as well as two forms of musk ox, wild sheep, and various arctic predators made up the faunal community of Beringia.

Movements of people across the Bering Land bridge probably occurred slowly. Small groups of human hunters likely followed game across the bridge and into North America. It is likely that not aware at all that they were moving into a different continent. In the absence of archaeological evidence for maritime technology, it seems likely that human movement across the Bering land bridge was restricted to periods in which the bridge was exposed.

However, it is possible that we have yet to find evidence that groups did sail across the Bering Strait. As you can see the Siberian coast from Alaska on a clear day, it would have been no great feat of navigation. Unfortunately, due to rising sea levels and a submerged coastline, the archaeological sites on the Bering land bridge are now completely submerged.

During the Wisconsin glaciation, large parts of Alaska remained unglaciated. This would have created what is known as the Beringian Refugium, which would have acted as a refuge for humans and animals away from the glacial ice. Within the refugium, which covers portions of Alaska and the Yukon, a number of archaeological sites have been recorded which show affinities to Siberian cultures, especially the Dyuktai culture. One of the most important of these sites is Blue Fish Caves. Excavations in the 1970s revealed the remains of horse, bison, and caribou bones in association with biface trimming flakes, microblades, and a wedge-shaped core. Radiocarbon testing reveal dates of between 15,000 to 12,000 years.

An Ice Free Corridor?
Glacial geomorphologists in the 1950s suggested that the two large ice sheets covering North America had not coalesced, and that a gap existed. This gap is known as the ice-free corridor, and it is suggested that it provided a means by which people and animals could have moved out of Alaska and the Yukon and down into North America. Geomorphologists suggest that the optimal times for southward movement would have been either prior to 25,000 years ago (the glacial maximum), or soon after 15,000 years ago, in early Holocene times. Recent research, however, has cast serious doubt on whether or not the environment of the ice-free corridor would have been able to sustain human and/or animal life. The interior of the corridor would likely have been a maze of glacial running glacial melt water, lakes, rock, and patchy vegetation.

Or An Alternate Coastal Route?
As an alternative to the ice-free corridor, Knud Fladmark has suggested that early peoples could have moved out of Alaska and the Yukon following a coastal route. This coastal hypothesis is predicated on the assumption that people would have had boats, and that they would have lived off of coastal resources such as sea mammals and shellfish. However, as yet, no evidence exists for such technology or economic adaptation among early Holocene peoples in Beringia, or among later Palaeoindian cultures in North America.

Clovis Palaeoindians
These groups were terrestrial hunter-gatherers with a way of life that centered around the exploitation of large land based mega fauna species. Up until 1997, the Clovis culture, which dates to about 11,700 BP was considered to be first culture of the New World. Now the Clovis culture is regarded only as the earliest of the Palaeoindian cultures of the New World. Clovis  is characterized by the hunting of big game animals using finely crafted fluted spear points. The fluted points of Clovis and later Folsom peoples were bifacially flaked spear points that contain a characteristic flute, created by the removal of a large flake from the base of the point. From a geographical perspective, these people were very successful, as they inhabited many different kinds of habitats, including the plains, tropical rain forests as well as sub arctic tundra.

It is only recently that researchers have accepted the evidence for what is known as a Pre-Clovis culture, despite the fact that many archaeologists had reported earlier occupations from a number of well known sites. Interestingly, most of these early sites are located in South America, which indicates that even earlier sites should exist in North America. To date, however, only one Pre-Clovis site, namely, Monte Verde in Chile, has been accepted. No other sites have been able to stand up to the rigid scientific scrutiny that is necessary to substantiate the early dates.

Some "Early" New World Sites
Pedra Furada is a large painted rock shelter located in northeastern Brazil that has a stream channel cutting through it. Two separate occupations were identified at the site, one early and one late. The early level is dated to 40,000BP. Tools in the upper levels include knives and scrapers made on exotic chert and flint. In the lower levels we see crude artifacts made on local rocks such as quartz and quartzite. Some problems with site include:

• tools from lower deposit may not be artifacts at all, but rather, they may have been modified by natural processes.
• artifacts in lower level are stream deposited
• charcoal from stream deposited lower layers and dated to 40,000 BP may be the result of natural brush fires, and not human hearths.

Monte Verde is Located in northern Chile, and was excavated by Tom Dillehay. The site situated along the edge of a low-lying stream. The dates range from 12,000 to 30,000 BP. The people who occupied Monte Verde appeared to have lived off of a variety of game animals and wild plant foods.  This is interesting, as many archaeologists have traditionally portrayed early human groups in North America as big game Specialists rather than as Generalists. There is good evidence for use of hut structures with the recovery of wooden structural remains, including wooden stakes with fibers knotted over them.  Problems with site have included:

• tools of questionable origin
• natural deposition from a nearby creek

Old Crow  was heralded as one of the earliest North American sites. In 1966, Charlie Frost, a Dene Native from the community of Old Crow found a caribou tibia that had been fashioned into a scraping tool among the bones of extinct mammals.  At the time, he was working for CR. Harrington, a paleontologist with the Federal Government, and Bill Taylor, an archaeologist at the University of Toronto. The scraping tool was submitted for Radiocarbon dating and yielded an age of 27,000BP was heralded as the earliest evidence for human occupation in North America.

The Old Crow site consists of a series of archaeological and palaeontological localities along the Old Crow River, which is a tributary of the Porcupine River situated in the Yukon Territories. The strata date to the Pleistocene and contain a variety of plant, invertebrate, and vertebrate fossils. At about 12,000 years ago, the rivers of the Old Crow basin began a major episode of erosion during which fossil bones were uncovered and redeposited in channels, point bars, and flood plain sediments.

The new deposits, which were the focus of the archaeological investigation, thus contained a mixture of fossil remains from different time periods, although most date to the Pleistocene. During the analysis of these bones, researchers noted instances of bone alteration (breaking, polishing and incising) that were attributed to the activities of humans. Since the discovery of Old Crow, many of the so-called "worked" pieces of bone have been dated anywhere from 24,000 to 30,000 BP. However, the caribou tibia flesher that was originally dated at 27,000 BP, has recently been re-dated to an age of 1350BP. Three other undisputed tools from this site have also dated to less than 3000BP. Problems with site include:

• all the bone was found in secondary contexts
• questionable whether the bone tools are human origin and not ecofacts

Meadowcroft Rockshelter is located in southwestern Pennsylvania and excavated by James Adovasio. The site is situated in an unglaciated portion of the Appalachian Plateau. It was reported in 1978 as one of the earliest best dated human settlements in North America. Cultural deposits extend down for about 5m in deepest part of the shelter and can be identified as 11 stratigraphic units. Seven classes of artifacts have been recovered; including lithic, bone, wood, shell, basketry, cordage and pottery. It is said to have served as a focus for hunting, collecting and food processing. Several components are represented including Palaeoindian, dated to about 11,000BP, and later occupations throughout the later prehistoric periods are also present.  And most importantly, it was argued that the deepest levels provided the first good evidence for a Pre-Clovis culture in North America.

Although the site was meticulously excavated, the later periods of this site are accepted, the lowest and earliest levels date between 19,000 and 16,000 BP were not widely accepted. Some problems with site include:

• possible carbon contamination from local coal deposits
• the possibility that the rockshelter was underwater at the time of the earliest dates
• possible stratigraphic mixing
• flora and fauna from the site suggests a much more temperate climate than one would have expected at a site so close to the ice sheet

Australian Connections
There are some very similar problems with the first peopling of Australia.  Although there is good agreement that there have been people in Australia since at least 30 to 40,000 BP, some suggest that it was occupied as early as 75 to 100,000 BP. In assessing the colonization of Australia, we also need to look at sea level changes with regard to possible routes and connections. When sea levels were reduced during the Pleistocene, the islands of southeast Asia were joined to the mainland.

At the same time, New Guinea, Australia and Tasmania were joined into a single land mass called Greater Australia. Despite the lower sea levels, Greater Australia was still separated from the mainland by what is referred to as the Wallace Trench. As such, the migration of people into Australia required the use of boats. Although the trip today would require a 1,500km ocean voyage, it would have required a series of 8 short sea voyages at times of reduced sea levels. The longest gap would have been 43kms.

Just as in the Americas, there is a long-standing controversy over when the first people arrived in Australia. Some of the earliest dates exceed 60,000 years, including a skeleton from the Lake Mungo 3 site. While modern native Australians have robust skeletal features, including a robust brow ridge, the skeleton from the Mungo 3 site is quite gracile, which raises some questions regarding its relationship with modern Australians.  This has led some researchers to suggest that there were at least two migrations of people into Australia. An early migration of gracile homo sapiens, and a later migration of more robust individuals who replaced the early gracile peoples.  A competing view suggests that the original migrants to Australia evolved into a more robust form.  However, at present, there is insufficient evidence to determine what actually happened.

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