Upper Paleolithic
(40,000-10,000 BP)
Topics covered in this section:
Introduction
The Upper Paleolithic is an interesting, perhaps even exciting, period.
It's an era when people become more "human." The primary cause of this
evolution is undoubtedly related to the arrival of Cro-Magnon on the
Continent. Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon societies existed side-by-side
for centuries, but eventually the Neanderthals suffered extinction and
were replaced by the Cro-Magnons.
It's a period when new technology in the form of bone and antler tools
replaced the old stone tools. And artistic creativity burst onto the scene
in the form of cave paintings and miniature sculptures.
It's a period when hunting techniques had to be changed as the ice sheets
retreat northward, leaving vast forests in their wake. Herd animals moved
northward as well, and were replaced by small, dispersed groups of forest
dwelling groups.
Markers
New Blade Patterns
By the time we reach the Upper Paleolithic era, stone technology has
advanced to its highest state thus far. Stone tools and blades are thinner,
longer, and more regularly shaped. By far, these "new" blades dominate the
artifact record of stone tool production. Tool design seems to indicate the
embryonic beginnings of an ethnic identity as tools from different regions
take on characteristic local patterns.
Bone and Antler Tools
In addition to stone tools, we see a sudden burst in the production of
bone and antler tools, as if they were discovered for the first time. It's
as if Upper Paleolithic craftsmen finally noticed that bones and antlers
could be "plastic" enough to be shaped into useful tools. In fact, bone
tools are conspicuously absent in earlier Paleolithic cultures.
Making use of this new technology, we see a comparable increase in the
variety and styles of bone tools. Bone and antler scrapers replace the
older stone scrapers. Bone and antler awls, which were nearly impossible
to fashion from stone, suddenly appear. Small bone pins and needles make
their debut. And bone rings or tubes join the artisan's new toolbox.
We see a more diverse range of tools produced. We see bone skin scraping
tools, the so called "end scrapers," replace bulkier stone scrapers. We see
new tool designs emerge to facilitate working with bones or antlers, notably
gouges and chisels. We see bone and antler knives achieve a sharpness that's
hard to match in stone knives. And we see production levels of spear tips
surge as bone and antler tips replace those made of stone.
Art and Sculpture
We see an explosion in art forms during the Upper Paleolithic. Some
33,000 to 35,000 years ago, art in the form of perforated animal teeth
appears. Most popular are the teeth of fur-bearing animas such as fox,
bear and wolf. The teeth are strung into necklaces and other personal
ornaments.
Then, between 32,000 and 30,000 years ago, the art consists of engraved
or sculpted bone and ivory. Archaeologists have found large numbers of
animal statuettes carved from mammoth ivory, along with lion-headed human
figures. However, by far the most common figurines are the female "vulvar"
symbols.
And of course, this is the period of time when people began to create
cave paintings and elaborate clothing. Campsites contain well-built
hearths. And mammoth skulls and reindeer antlers were used as hut
foundations or as windbreaks for campfires.
European Weather
Maximum Glaciation
The maximum glaciation occured about 18,000 to 20,000 years ago,
during which sea levels dropped by at least 100m. As the level of
the oceans dropped, land bridges appeared between the continents,
allowing Ice Age explorers to spread out into new territory.
During the most severe parts of the glaciation period, average
year-round temperatures in most parts of Europe likely fell to at
least 10° C below present-day levels. During the interglacial
period following the maximum glaciation, the weather would be somewhat
milder.
Winter and Summer Contrasts
Extremely cold ocean currents flowed from the polar regions of the
north Atlantic. A combination of these ocean curents and the associated
wind circulation patterns would have created a European climate that
had greater contrasts in temperature between summer and winter months.
Even if some of the summer temperatures weren't too dramatically different
than today, the winters would have been bitterly cold, with local
temperatures that could easily fall to below -10° C for weeks at
a time.
Heavy snowfall would have posed major obstacles to the mobility of
animals or human groups during the colder months of the year.
Tundra and Steppe Hunters
The periglacial European environment was far from comfortable, at
least during the winter months. However, the glaciers did afford one
critical benefit. The most direct effect of the glaciers upon the
landscape was to eliminate significant tree growth from all regions
except the most southerly zones of Europe.
Open Landscape
Europe consisted of vast areas of open landscape, dominated by rich
growths of grasses, mosses, and other herbaceous plants. Though at first,
this might not seem like a benefit for the human populations, but a
moment's reflection will make the benefits clear.
For one thing, people didn't have to contend with dense, impenetrable
forests of the kind which posed a major obstacle to the activities of
later, Mesolithic communities. The steppes and tundra provided ideal
conditions for numerous species of cold adapted herd animals such as
reindeer, wild horse, and steppe bison, as well as the larger "pachyderm"
species such as mammoth and woolly rhinoceros.
Migration Trails
Herds followed more or less regular migration trails between summer
and winter pastures, at regular and largely predictable periods of the
year. This fact alone allowed Upper Paleolithic hunters to establish
their settlements beside these migration trails and simply wait for
the herds to walk by.
There are clear indications that Upper Paleolithic hunters relied
less on scavenging, as did their Lower and Middle Paleolithic ancestors,
and more on direct hunting techniques. This resulted in a kind of
geographic hunting specialization. Settlements were established along
particular migration trails, which provided greater access to a single
species.
Geographic Specialization
For example, the geographic specialization in animal species hunted
resulted in the following generalizations:
- In the tundra regions of western Europe, the most common prey were
reindeer or wild horse (in certain contexts).
- To the east, on the steppes, it was steppe bison, wild ass, or in some
cases, woolly mammoth.
- In the Mediterranean area, the main focus was on red deer or, in the
more mountainous areas, ibex and chamois.
Cro-Magnon Emerge
The Cro-Magnon were relatively late arrivals in Europe. Their genesis,
and archaeological evidence, places them in Israel some 90,000 to 100,000
years ago. Then about 45,000 to 50,000 years ago, they spread out to parts
of western Asia and Africa. Finally, some 31,000 to 35,000 years ago, they
arrived in Europe, and lived there another 15,000 years.
Disappearance of Neanderthals
Neanderthal settlements were often located directly astride major
migration trails, sometimes on the open plains and other times in
caves.
Complete Skeletons
Prior to the Upper Paleolithic, no complete skeletons exist on
the open plains. However, complete Upper Paleolithic Neanderthal
skeletons have been found buried on the open plains as well as in
caves. This indicates that Neanderthals were now intentionally buried
in well-dug graves, protecting their bodies from carnivores.
However, the era of the Neanderthal was about to come to a close.
They completely disappear from archaeological view all across Europe
and Eurasia about 30,000 years ago. Since this is approximately the
same timeframe as the arrival of the Cro-Magnon, some archaeologists
have suggested that they suffered mass genocide at the hands of the
Cro-Magnon.
Not Genocide
However, there is absolutely no evidence to support the
idea that they were wiped out by Cro-Magnon. More likely, they simply
came to a natural end.
Neanderthals were thinly dispersed over fairly large areas of the
continent in small, highly mobile social units. Due to the exreme
distances between settlements, there was little chance to meet potential
mates. A high death-to-birth ratio probably contributed to the elimination
of most Neanderthals, without having to resort to theories of mass murder,
or even direct contact between Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons.
In fact, in some cases such as a few sites in France, there are
indications that Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon groups might have peacefully
co-existed alongside each other for centuries. There are also indications
at some sites that the two groups might have shared technology between
them.
Population Explosion
The archaeological record indicates a very substantial increase in
overall population densities took place, coinciding at least broadly with
the transition from Middle to Upper Paleolithic. Of course, this might
also indicate that earlier sites were more scattered and that many of
these sites haven't been found yet. It's important to point out, though,
that even with the population explosion, the European landscape was still
relatively empty of humans.
However, compared to the rather long period of time of the Middle
Paleolithic (about 60,000 years), the 25,000 to 30,000 years of the
Upper Paleolithic is rather short (by about half). Yet the number of
recovered Upper Paleolithic sites is about equal to those of the Middle
Paleolithic. This implies a much higher rate, per unit of time, of the
formation of Upper Paleolithic sites.
Social and Economic Roles
Though difficult to verify archaeologically, the population increase
probably encouraged, or perhaps required, a more complex level of separation
and specialization in the social or economic roles occupied by particular
individuals within the society. When a cave painting needed to be done,
for example, they might have called on the "community artist" to make
the painting. Specialized or skilled craftsmen might have been called upon
to manufacture the tools for the entire community.
Leaders
Leaders would have been chosen to organize and coordinate community
affairs. In fact, elaborate Upper Paleolithic ceremonial burials recovered
at sites such as Dolni Vestonice in former Czechoslovakia, Sungir in Russia,
and Arene Candide in Italy might indicate an increased social "status" or
"ranking" was now being accorded to particular individuals within the
community.
Gender Specialization
In the past, both men and women appear to have been equally involved
in the survival of the community. Now there's some evidence of a general
specialization of social roles based entirely on gender.
Communal Territory
An enhanced sense of communal territory and the defense of that
territory against encroachment seems to have occured. However, there's
almost no evidence of warfare at any of the sites.
Crowding Stress
Some sites from the period show various forms of "crowding stress" in
the spatial relationships between living spaces or residential units.
Some archaeologists have argued that this crowding stress forced some
kind of clear demarcation of discrete "social territories." For example,
in crowded conditions, it's necessary to decide who has best access to
various community resources such as water or game. This demarcation of
territories might even have given rise to distinct classes or ethnic
groups within the community.
Rapid Adoption of Technology
Aurignacian Phenomenon
The Aurignacian phenomenon, as it's called, occurred about 35,000 to
40,000 years ago. It has to do with one of the "markers" of the Upper
Paleolithic era mentioned above. That is, the phenomenon of a new form
of tool specialization.
Suddenly, at least in terms of the extended time frames we're dealing
with in the Paleolithic world, various types of steep, thin, nosed, and
"carinated" scrapers appear in large quantities in the archaeological
record. We also see new technology being expressed in the small,
continuous-edge retouched blades. And the appearance of technologically
advanced bone and tooth pendants.
Language
Although language is one of the archaeologically least "visible" aspects
of human behavior, it's not too far-fetched to imagine that the creation
of language played a part in this technological explosion. There's a
remarkable uniformity of technology for some of the earliest stages of
the Upper Paleolithic sequence, in areas ranging from southern Israel to
the northwest coast of Spain. This uniformity might indicate the emergence
of a more complex and structured pattern of language. Perhaps vestiges of
explicit symbolism is reflected in the tools and art of the period.
Controversy and Discussion
What might be responsible for such a rapid adoption of technology in
the Upper Paleolithic world? This topic has caused quite a bit of lively
discussion and controversy in archaeological circles.
One theory is that the technology reflects the development of new and
more effective internal social organization among human groups. Perhaps
people simply learned to organize themselves into patterns that could take
advantage of economic exploitation. Effective leaders would designate who
in the community should perform specific tasks. The difficulty with this
theory, however, is that it might explain how one or a few communities
experienced a surge in technological innovations, but it doesn't explain
the seemingly global surge that occurred everywhere on the continent.
Replacement Theory
Another theory, and perhaps the most likely one, is an idea that was
proposed as far back as 1908. This theory proposes that there had been a
major population replacement take place. Perhaps, the theory proposes,
earlier Paleolithic populations were replaced by people from the more
advanced civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant.
The replacement theory is supported by studies of mitochondrial DNA in
modern populations. The genetic data suggests that present-day populations
throughout the world sprang from a single, common female ancestor who
lived some 200,000 years ago. Furthermore, the data indicates that
Homo erectus and Neanderthals made little, if any, genetic
contribution to Upper Paleolithic or modern Europeans.
And replacement of antiquated populations by more modern peoples
explains very nicely how such a sudden technological transition might
have taken place.
Settlements
There are many examples of Upper Paleolithic settlements, including
massive rock shelters in southern France.
Plains Settlements
Equally extensive, if not more so, are the open air settlements found
all across the European plains and prairies. But the best examples come
from the open air settlements on the exposed, loess plains of central
and eastern Europe. Places such as Pavlov and Dolni Vestonice in former
Czechoslovakia, or Pushkari, Kostenki, Mezhirich, and Mezin in southern
Russia.
Also, there's a much higher concentration of sites along rivers or
directly astride major migration trails than found in earlier Paleolithic
sites. This probably reflects a greater ability on the part of Upper
Paleolithic peoples to reliably "predict" the movement of animals and
to better anticipate these movements.
Multi-Family Groups
Upper Paleolithic settlements tend to be much larger than their
predecessors. From this we can assume an aggregation of relatively large,
multi-family groups. These groups number anywhere from tens to hundreds
of individuals.
Housing
Open air settlements contain signs of the construction of extensive
housing. Many of the living spaces consist of major pit-like depressions,
usually focused around a central hearth. Other living spaces contain
clearly defined circular or oval arrangements of stone settings or post
holes, which mark the foundations of substantial huts or other similar
living structures.
In eastern Europe, hut foundations often incorporate large quantities
of tusks, jaws, or leg bones of mammoths. These huge bones apparently
served as the major architectural component of "homes" in regions where
local supplies of wood were lacking.
Compared to earlier Paleolithic sites, the sheer size of Upper
Paleolithic settlements, combined with the large amount of debris found,
clearly indicates the beginning phases of communities. Similar evidence
of communities does not exist at ANY of the documented pre-Upper
Paleolithic sites in Europe.
Transport of Raw Materials
So where did they get the raw materials for the tools needed to build
such large settlements? We clearly see the pattern of transporting raw
materials from geological sources over much larger distances than in the
Middle Paleolithic.
Distances traveled, of course, depend on the geographic region of the
settlement. People traveled much larger distances in the continental
regions and smaller distances in the northern or southwestern regions.
Trade Between Settlements
Along with the much larger communities, we see a surge in the amount
of social correspondence and trade between communities. The need to feed
and house the high populations probably brought frequent, temporary hardship
on a given community.
In addition, they had to deal with the short-term unpredictability of
the environment. Fires might destroy the local forage resource of herds,
forcing them to follow other migration paths. Prolonged snowfall or
overgrazing might also change migration trails.
Survival required that communities share their resources with those who
experienced these temporary hard times. And skilled craftsmen from one
community undoubtedly found economic advantages in having a broader
coverage of potential clients.
Extensive trade and exchange networks can now be documented in many
Upper Paleolithic European sites. A few representative examples are:
- Sea shells.
In central and western Europe, several species of sea shells were
traded or exchanged over vast distances. Archaeological evidence
indicates, for example, that sea shell trade existed between the
Mediterranean coast and the Perigord region, a distance of about
250km. Sea shells were also traded between the Black Sea coast and
the Don valley, a distance of about 500km.
- Flint.
The distribution of high-quality flint occurred between the Holy Cross
mountains of southern Poland and western former Czechoslovakia, and
between the Dordogne valley and the Pyrenees.
These exchange networks existed throughout most of the stages of the
Upper Paleolithic, but they become especially conspicuous during the last
glacial maximum (around 15,000 to 25,000 years ago). During the glacial
maximum, the degree of unpredictability and the relative insecurity of
economic resources would probably have been at their most acute stage.
End of Ice Age
The Upper Paleolithic world ended fairly abruptly as a rapidly warming
climate embraced Europe. The end of the most recent glacial period had
transformed the environment of the Upper Paleolithic world in radical and
irreversible ways.
Continental Warming
The initial stages of the continental warming process can be detected
as early as 13,000 BP. The apex, however, occurred around 10,000 years
ago when the overall rate of climatic change reached its peak. This peak
defines the end of the Upper Paleolithic and the start of the ensuing
Mesolithic stage.
Ice sheets retreated from their maximum positions and sea levels rose,
flooding many of the former land bridges. Fresh water lakes formed in
the lower land depressions. And forests replaced the open tundra and
steppe landscape.
Appearance of Forests
The forests expanded northward behind the retreating ice sheets. The
timing of forestation varies by geographic region. It occurred about
12,500 BP in the southern parts of the continent and about 10,000 BP in
the northerly regions.
Hunting Techniques
The forests necessitated a profound change in hunting techniques. The
pursuit of animals in heavily forested landscapes is very different than
the techniques used on the former open, periglacial environment. It requires
a different set of strategies and tactics, but more importantly, in the
organization of hunting parties.
Not only did the forests change the migration paths of many of the
migratory animals, but it also changed the overall biomass of the animals
found in particular regions. Instead of the vast herds found on the plains,
they consisted of smaller, more widely dispersed groups.
Human Response to Forests
The human groups responded to the advance of forests in one of two ways.
Some retreated northward, following the herds at the edges of the retreating
ice sheets. This group maintained their old steppe hunting skills and
colonized northern Europe and Scandinavia. The other choice was to remain
where they were and adapt to the new environment.
Decline in Population
At the end of the Ice Age, we see a dramatic decline in population.
There are about half as many sites from this period as there are from
the rest of the Upper Paleolithic. And there's a corresponding reduction
in the size of settlements. Human groups lived in much smaller and more
widely dispersed social units.
With fewer people in the group to choose from, specialists became
generalists again, resulting in a return to the production of cruder
tools and less finely crafted workmanship. Craftsmanship was only a pale
reflection of that produced by earlier specialists in terms of size,
morphological complexity, investment in workmanship, and degree of
decoration.
Most striking of all was the general disappearance of artwork. Probably
there was no time to hone artistic skills when mere survival was of
paramount concern. Only a handful of incised representations of animal
figures or enigmatic "painted pebbles," embellished with simple geometric
designs in red ochre, have been recovered.
Romanian Archaeology
In Romania, an Upper Paleolithic site has been excavated at Gura
Chindiei, near Caciulata in the Transylvanian Alps. At this site, we
find mural paintings similar to those in Spain and France. The paintings
depict scenes in the lives of Paleolithic hunters.
Go Elsewhere
At this point, you have a couple of options:
Enjoy your stay and have a great day!
|
