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Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of "high" culture (behavioral modernity) and before the advent of agriculture. The terms "Late Stone Age" and "Upper Paleolithic" refer to the same periods. For historical reasons "Late Stone Age" usually refers to the period in Africa, whereas "Upper Paleolithic" is generally used when referring to the period in Europe. In 19th century archaeology, the Upper Paleolithic was also known as the "Reindeer Age".
OverviewModern humans (i.e. Homo sapiens sapiens) are believed to have emerged at least 130,000 years ago in Africa. Though these humans were modern in anatomy, their lifestyle changed very little from their contempories such as Homo erectus and the Neanderthals. They used the same crude stone tools. Archaeologist Richard G. Klein, who has worked extensively on ancient stone tools, describes the stone tool kit of archaic hominids as impossible to categorize. It was as if when the Neanderthals went to make a stone tool they weren't really concerned about its final form. He argues that almost everywhere, whether Asia or Africa or Europe, before 50,000 years ago all the stone tools are very much alike and unsophisticated. However after 50,000 years ago there is sharp increase in the diversity of artifacts. For the first time bone artifacts, and the first art appear in the fossil record in Africa. The first evidence of human fishing is also noted from artifact in places like Blombos cave in South Africa. After 50,000 years ago, firstly in Africa, it was found that he could easily sort the human artifacts 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 as if each tool had a specific name. 3000 to 4000 years later this technology spread to Europe resulting in a population explosion of modern humans and also the extinction of the Neanderthals. The invaders commonly referred to as the Cro-Magnons left many sophisticated stone tools, cave art and Venus figurines.[1][2][3]This shift from Middle to Upper Paleolithic is called the Upper Paleolithic Revolution. The Neanderthals continued to use Mousterian stone tool technology. The earliest remains of organized settlements in the form of campsites, some with storage pits, are encountered in this period. These were often located in narrow valley bottoms, possibly in order to make hunting passing herds of animals easier. Some sites may have been occupied year round though more generally they seem to have been used seasonally with peoples moving between them to exploit different food sources at different times of the year. 
Upper Paleolithic people used caves and tents like this one (reconstruction) for dwelling Artistic work also blossomed with Venus figurines, cave painting, petroglyphs and exotic raw materials found far from their sources suggest emergent trading links. More complex social groupings emerged, supported by more varied and reliable food sources and specialized tool types. This probably contributed to increasing group identification or ethnicity. These group identities produced distinctive symbols and rituals which are an important part of modern human behaviour. The reasons for these changes in human behavior have been attributed to the changes in climate during the period which encompasses a number of global temperature drops, meaning a worsening of the already bitter climate of the last ice age. These may have reduced the supply of usable timber and forced people to look at other materials while flint becomes brittle at low temperatures and may not have functioned as a tool. It has also been argued that the appearance of (complex or abstract) language made these behavioural changes possible. The complexity of the new human capabilities hints that humans were less capable of planning or foresight before 40,000 years and that speech changed that http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/images/anthropology(NoLastWordOnLanguageOrigins.htm. This suggestion has no wide acceptance, since human phylogenetic separation dates to the Middle Paleolithic (see Pre-language). Still, it must be remembered that while the latter view is better supported by phylogenetic inference, the material evidence is hard to explain thus. Events
Map of findings of Upper Paleolithic art in Europe 50,000–40,000 BP
40,000–30,000 BP
30,000–20,000 BP
20,000–16,000 BP
16,000–12,000 BP
12,000–11,000 BP
Cultures
Reindeer Age articles 
Reindeer Age (Aurignacian) Engravings & Carvings
From the Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures:
See alsoReferencesExternal links
ca:Paleolític superior cs:Mladý paleolit de:Jungpaläolithikum es:Paleolítico Superior eu:Goi Paleolitoa fr:Paléolithique supérieur gl:Paleolítico Superior pl:Paleolit górny pt:Paleolítico Superior ru:??????? ???????? sk:Mladý paleolit (v u??om zmysle) sh:Gornji paleolit sv:Paleolitikum Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article
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