Introduction
The Upper Paleolithic is the last division of the Old Stone Age as it is known by archaeologists. It existed between 50000 and 10000 years ago. A period marks the beginning of the behavioral modernity as well as before the initiation of agriculture. Specifically, the Upper Paleolithic term represents the period in Europe. Stone tools were most common at the time with the 50000 years marking the increase in diversity of artifacts. At the time, there were extensive advances in the social, technological, and cultural activities in Europe (Bar-Yosef 364). The ability of human beings to make decisions resulted to survival difficulties as the environment changed.
Ice age
Ice age is a period of extensive reduction in the earth, and atmosphere’s temperature causing the expansion of polar and continental ice sheets as well as alpine glaciers. The Ice Age theory originated from Engineer and Geographer Pierre Martel in 1742, after his visit to the Chamonix Valley in the Alps of Savoy. He encountered massive glaciers, which helped him in defining the Ice age. Other geographers in different Alps later matched his explanation with similar findings (Peltier 195).
Three factors may evidence the ice age: geological, chemical, and paleontological. The geological evidence may come in various forms. It may appear as rock scratching and scouring, drumlins, glacial moraines, as well as deposition of tills. The chemical evidence is represented by variations in the isotopes ratios available in sediments as well as sedimentary rocks (Ice age. 2009). Lastly, advances in the fossils’ geographical distribution signify the paleontological evidence.
The earth has experienced five main ice ages in the past. They include the Huronian, Andean-Saharan, Cryogenian, Quaternary glaciations, and Karoo Ice Age (Ice age. 2009). Each of these periods was marked by existence of unique traits or elements.
There were exclusive climatic changes in Europe during the Upper Paleolithic period. The main mark of the period is the Last Glacial Maximum, which was the coldest segment of the last glacial period. At the time, the best section of the Northern Europe was covered with an ice-sheet. The exclusive cold forced the human beings to areas referred to as Lat Glacial Maximum refugia. There were exclusive rises in the sea level during the period, causing loss in extensive human activities in the Europe’s coasts (Hublin 296).
Cultural divisions of the Upper Paleolithic
The culture of the period began approximately 40000 years ago. The first cultural style of the period was the Aurignacian culture. The culture had exclusively diverse as well as highly crafted and sophisticated tools. The second style was the Chatelperronian culture. The culture is mainly known of the lithic reduction and production of toothed stone tools. The third culture was the Gravettian culture, which is mainly characterized by a small pointed restruck blade and Noailles burin, which was a curving tool. The fourth culture was the Solutrean, which was known of making knapping tools. The knapping was done through antler batons, hardwood batons, as well as soft stone hammers. The fifth culture was the Magdalenian, which mainly practiced redbeer hunting, and it is the origin of a horse and other mammals that are found in Europe (Kuhn, 7641).
Human artistic achievements
There are various artistic achievements evident at the time. There are exclusive tools that were developed during the Upper Paleolithic period. Crude stone tools were developed to match the activities of hunting, as well as stone curving. The period saw development of exclusively sophisticated tools (Kuhn, 7646).
Upper Paleolithic Sites
Abri de la Madeleine
The is also known as The Magdalene shelter, which is a prehistoric shelter under an overhanging cliff located close to Tursac in the Dordogne department, as well as the Aquitaine region in France. It led to the creation of the Upper Paleolithic’s Magdalenian culture. The site is mainly characterized by the Bison Licking Insect Bite curving that is estimated 20000 BC. The site is also characterized by a medieval castle that stands on a cliff above the shelter (Kuhn, 7645).
Crot du Charnier
This was the origin site of the Solutre Culture situate din the Macon district, Saone-et-loire in Eastern France. Henry Testot-Ferry who was a French geologist and paleontologist in 1866, discovered the site. Solutrean tool-making techniques were exclusively creative, and fine work was the main element in the application (Upper Paleolithic Culture, 2014). The site was a proper definition of the cultural practices that were evident in the Upper Paleolithic Period.
The two sites were proper definition of the Paleolithic period. They represented the tools and the practices that were present at the time. The tools were extensively useful in defining the practices of the region.
Definitions
- Bands refer to cultural anthropology practices that describe the easiest form of human social organization made of a small number of nuclear families with 30-50 people who are casually organized for subsistence, as well as security purposes.
- Absolute chronology refers to a geochronology where the time-order is highly reliant on absolute age, usually valued in years through radiometric dating.
- Pleistocene is a unique period that marks the exclusive evolution of the human species, Homo sapiens.
- “Cave art” is a form of activity where artists use their painting skills to paint pictures on the walls of a cave.
Work Cited
Bar-Yosef, Ofer. "The upper paleolithic revolution." Annual Review of Anthropology (2002): 363-393.
Hublin, Jean-Jacques. "Climatic changes, paleogeography, and the evolution of the Neandertals." Neandertals and modern humans in Western Asia. Springer US, 2002. 295-310.
Ice age. Dir. Carlos Saldanha. Perf. Carlos. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2009. DVD.
Kuhn, Steven L., et al. "Ornaments of the earliest Upper Paleolithic: New insights from the Levant." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences98.13 (2001): 7641-7646.
Peltier, W. Richard. "Ice age paleotopography." SCIENCE-NEW YORK THEN WASHINGTON- (2004): 195.
"Upper Paleolithic Culture." Upper Paleolithic Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 July 2014. <http://hoopermuseum.earthsci.carleton.c
