View source for Upper Paleolithic

{{short description|Subdivision of the Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox archaeological culture
|name        = Upper Paleolithic
|map         = [[File:Loewenmensch1.jpg|frameless|alt=|upright=1.1]]
|mapcaption  = {{lang|de|[[Lion-man|Löwenmensch]]}}, a prehistoric ivory [[sculpture]] discovered in [[Hohlenstein-Stadel]], {{circa}} 40,000–35,000 years old
|mapalt      =
|altnames    =
|horizon     =
|region      = 
|period      = [[Stone Age]]
|dates       = 50,000 to 12,000&nbsp;[[Before Present|BP]]
|typesite    = 
|majorsites  = 
|extra       =
|precededby  = [[Middle Paleolithic]]
|followedby  = [[Mesolithic]]
}}

{{Human history and prehistory}}

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[[File:Expansion of early modern humans from Africa.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Expansion of [[European early modern humans|early modern humans]] from Africa]]
The '''Upper Paleolithic''' (or '''Upper Palaeolithic''') is the third and last subdivision of the [[Paleolithic]] or Old [[Stone Age]]. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the [[Holocene]]), according to some theories coinciding with the appearance of [[behavioral modernity]] in humans. It is followed by the [[Mesolithic]].

[[Anatomically modern humans]] (i.e. ''Homo sapiens'') are believed to have emerged in [[Africa]] around 300,000 years ago. It has been argued by some that their ways of life changed relatively little from that of [[archaic humans]] of the [[Middle Paleolithic]],<ref>{{cite journal | year = 2009 | title = Out of Africa: modern human origins special feature: middle and later Pleistocene hominids in Africa and Southwest Asia | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 106 | issue = 38| pages = 16046–16050 | pmc=2752549 | pmid=19581595 | doi=10.1073/pnas.0903930106 | last1 = Rightmire | first1 = G. P.| bibcode = 2009PNAS..10616046R | doi-access = free }}</ref> until about 50,000 years ago, when there was a marked increase in the diversity of [[Artefact (archaeology)|artefacts]] found associated with modern human remains. This period coincides with the most common date assigned to [[early human migrations|expansion of modern humans]] from Africa throughout Asia and Eurasia, which may have contributed to the [[Neanderthal extinction|extinction of the Neanderthals]].

The Upper Paleolithic has the earliest known evidence of organized [[Human settlement|settlements]], in the form of campsites, some with storage pits. [[Art of the Upper Paleolithic|Artistic work]] blossomed, with cave painting, [[petroglyph]]s, carvings and engravings on bone or ivory. The first evidence of human fishing is also found from a 125,000 years old artefacts in [[Buya, Eritrea]], and in other places such as [[Blombos cave]] in [[South Africa]]. More complex [[society|social grouping]]s emerged, supported by more varied and reliable food sources and specialized [[tool]] types. This probably contributed to increasing group identification or [[ethnicity]].<ref>Gilman, Antonio. 1996. "Explaining the Upper Palaeolithic Revolution". pp. 220–239 (Chap. 8) in ''Contemporary Archaeology in Theory: A Reader''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell</ref>

The [[peopling of Australia]] most likely took place before c. 60 [[Year#SI_prefix_multipliers|ka]]. [[European early modern humans|Europe]] was peopled after c. 45 ka. 
Anatomically modern humans are known to have expanded northward into [[Siberia]] as far as the [[58th parallel north|58th parallel]] by about 45 ka ([[Ust'-Ishim man]]).
The Upper Paleolithic is divided by the [[Last Glacial Maximum]] (LGM), from about 25 to 15 ka. The [[peopling of the Americas]] occurred during this time, with East and Central Asia populations reaching the [[Bering land bridge]] after about 35 ka, and expanding into the Americas by about 15 ka.
In Western Eurasia, the Paleolithic eases into the so-called [[Epipaleolithic]] or [[Mesolithic]] from the end of the LGM, beginning 15 ka. The [[Holocene glacial retreat]] begins 11.7 ka ([[10th millennium BC]]), falling well into the Old World Epipaleolithic, and marking the beginning of the earliest forms of [[Neolithic Revolution|farming]] in the [[Fertile Crescent]].

==Lifestyle and technology==
{{See also|Hunter-gatherer|Aurignacian|Behavioral modernity}}
Both ''[[Homo erectus]]'' and [[Neanderthals]] 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 [[hominid]]s as impossible to categorize. He argues that almost everywhere, whether [[Asia]], Africa or [[Europe]], before 50,000 years ago all the stone tools are much alike and unsophisticated.

[[File:Flint Knives, Ahmarian Culture, Nahal Boqer, 47000-40000 BP (detail).jpg|thumb|upright|left|Flint Knives, [[Ahmarian|Ahmarian Culture]], Nahal Boqer, [[Israel]], 47,000–40,000 BP. [[Israel Museum]].]]
Firstly among the artefacts of Africa, archeologists found they could differentiate and classify those of less than 50,000 years 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; each tool had a specific purpose. The early modern humans who expanded into Europe, commonly referred to as the [[Cro-Magnon]]s, left many sophisticated stone tools, carved and engraved pieces on bone, [[ivory]] and [[antler]], [[cave painting]]s and [[Venus figurines]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accessexcellence.org/BF/bf02/klein/bf02e3.html|title=Klein: Behavioral and Biological Origins of Modern Humans 3 of 3|website=Access Excellence}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accessexcellence.org/BF/bf02/klein/bf02e1.html|title=Klein: Behavioral and Biological Origins of Modern Humans 1 of 3|website=Access Excellence}}</ref><ref name=ScienceDaily1998>[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/07/980707073901.htm {{"'}}Modern' Behavior Began 40,000 Years Ago In Africa"], ''Science Daily'', July 1998</ref>

The Neanderthals continued to use [[Mousterian]] stone tool technology and possibly [[Châtelperronian]] technology. These [[Stone tool|tools]] disappeared from the archeological record at around the same time the Neanderthals themselves disappeared from the fossil record, about 40,000 cal BP.<ref name="nature.com">{{cite journal|title=The timing and spatiotemporal patterning of Neanderthal disappearance|first1=Tom|last1=Higham|author-link1=Thomas Higham (archaeologist)|first2=Katerina|last2=Douka|first3=Rachel|last3=Wood|first4=Christopher Bronk|last4=Ramsey|first5=Fiona|last5=Brock|first6=Laura|last6=Basell|first7=Marta|last7=Camps|first8=Alvaro|last8=Arrizabalaga|first9=Javier|last9=Baena|first10=Cecillio|last10=Barroso-Ruíz|first11=Christopher|last11=Bergman|first12=Coralie|last12=Boitard|first13=Paolo|last13=Boscato|first14=Miguel|last14=Caparrós|first15=Nicholas J.|last15=Conard|first16=Christelle|last16=Draily|first17=Alain|last17=Froment|first18=Bertila|last18=Galván|first19=Paolo|last19=Gambassini|first20=Alejandro|last20=Garcia-Moreno|first21=Stefano|last21=Grimaldi|first22=Paul|last22=Haesaerts|first23=Brigitte|last23=Holt|first24=Maria-Jose|last24=Iriarte-Chiapusso|first25=Arthur|last25=Jelinek|first26=Jesús F.|last26=Jordá Pardo|first27=José-Manuel|last27=Maíllo-Fernández|first28=Anat|last28=Marom|first29=Julià|last29=Maroto|first30=Mario|last30=Menéndez|first31=Laure|last31=Metz|first32=Eugène|last32=Morin|first33=Adriana|last33=Moroni|first34=Fabio|last34=Negrino|first35=Eleni|last35=Panagopoulou|first36=Marco|last36=Peresani|first37=Stéphane|last37=Pirson|first38=Marco|last38=de la Rasilla|first39=Julien|last39=Riel-Salvatore|first40=Annamaria|last40=Ronchitelli|first41=David|last41=Santamaria|first42=Patrick|last42=Semal|first43=Ludovic|last43=Slimak|first44=Joaquim|last44=Soler|first45=Narcís|last45=Soler|first46=Aritza|last46=Villaluenga|first47=Ron|last47=Pinhasi|first48=Roger|last48=Jacobi|date=21 August 2014|journal=Nature|volume=512|issue=7514|pages=306–309|doi=10.1038/nature13621|pmid=25143113|bibcode=2014Natur.512..306H|hdl=1885/75138|s2cid=205239973|hdl-access=free}}</ref> 

[[File:Stone Core for Making Blades - Boqer Tachtit, Negev, circa 40000 BP (detail).jpg|thumb|Stone core for making fine blades, Boqer Tachtit, Negev, [[Israel]], c. 40,000 BP]]
Settlements were often located in narrow valley bottoms, possibly associated with hunting of passing [[herd]]s of animals. Some of them may have been occupied year round, though more commonly they appear to have been used seasonally; people moved between the sites to exploit different food sources at different times of the year. Hunting was important, and [[reindeer|caribou/wild reindeer]] "may well be the species of single greatest importance in the entire [[anthropological]] literature on hunting".<ref name=Burch>"In North America and Eurasia the species has long been an important resource—in many areas ''the'' most important resource—for peoples' inhabiting the northern [[boreal forest]] and [[tundra]] regions. Known human dependence on caribou/wild reindeer has a long history, beginning in the [[Middle Pleistocene]] (Banfield 1961:170; Kurtén 1968:170) and continuing to the present.&nbsp;... The caribou/wild reindeer is thus an animal that has been a major resource for humans throughout a tremendous geographic area and across a time span of tens of thousands of years." Ernest S. Burch, Jr. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/278435 "The Caribou/Wild Reindeer as a Human Resource"], ''American Antiquity'', Vol. 37, No. 3 (July 1972), pp. 339–368.</ref>

[[Technology|Technological advance]]s included significant developments in [[flint tool]] manufacturing, with [[archaeological industry|industries]] based on fine [[Prismatic blade|blade]]s rather than simpler and shorter [[Lithic flake|flake]]s. [[Burin (lithic flake)|Burin]]s and [[racloir]]s were used to work bone, antler and [[Hide (skin)|hides]]. Advanced [[dart (missile)|dart]]s and [[harpoon]]s also appear in this period, along with the [[fish hook]], the [[oil lamp]], [[rope]], and the [[Sewing needle|eyed needle]]. Fishing of [[Pelagic fish|pelagic]] fish species and navigating the open ocean is evidenced by sites from [[Jerimalai (cave)|Timor]] and [[Kilu Cave|Buka]] ([[Solomon Islands (archipelago)|Solomon Islands]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=The Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition |url=https://www.trentu.ca/anthropology/faculty-research/neandertals-and-early-modern-humans-europe/middle-upper-paleolithic-transition}}</ref>

The changes in human behavior have been attributed to changes in climate, encompassing a number of global [[temperature]] drops. These led to a worsening of the already bitter cold of the [[last glacial period]] (popularly but incorrectly called the last [[ice age]]). Such changes may have reduced the supply of usable [[timber]] and forced people to look at other materials. In addition, flint becomes brittle at low temperatures and may not have functioned as a tool.

===Notational signs===
[[File:Lascaux 04 (with circle).jpg|thumb|Art of [[Lascaux]], with painted animal, and four dots, a possible notation for [[Lunar month]]s<ref name="10.1017/S0959774322000415"/>]]
Some notational signs, used next to images of animals, may have appeared as early as the [[Upper Palaeolithic]] in Europe circa 35,000 BCE, and may be the earliest [[proto-writing]]: several symbols were used in combination as a way to convey seasonal behavioural information about hunted animals.<ref name="10.1017/S0959774322000415">{{cite journal |last1=Bacon |first1=Bennett |last2=Khatiri |first2=Azadeh |last3=Palmer |first3=James |last4=Freeth |first4=Tony |last5=Pettitt |first5=Paul |last6=Kentridge |first6=Robert |title= An Upper Palaeolithic Proto-writing System and Phenological Calendar |journal=[[Cambridge Archaeological Journal]] |date=5 January 2023 |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-archaeological-journal/article/an-upper-palaeolithic-protowriting-system-and-phenological-calendar/6F2AD8A705888F2226FE857840B4FE19 1–19] |doi=10.1017/S0959774322000415|s2cid=255723053 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Lines (|) and dots (•) were apparently used interchangeably to denote lunar months, while the (Y) sign apparently signified "To give birth". These characters were seemingly combined to convey the breeding period of hunted animals.<ref name="10.1017/S0959774322000415"/>

==Changes in climate and geography==
[[File:Ice-core-isotope.png|thumb|upright=1.5|The Upper Paleolithic covered the second half of the [[Last glacial period]] from 50,000 to 10,000 before present, until the warming of the [[Holocene]]. [[Ice core]] data from Antarctica and [[Greenland]].]]
The climate of the period in Europe saw dramatic changes, and included the [[Last Glacial Maximum]], the coldest phase of the [[last glacial period]], which lasted from about 26.5 to 19 kya, being coldest at the end, before relatively rapid warming (all dates vary somewhat for different areas, and in different studies). During the Maximum, most of Northern Europe was covered by an [[ice-sheet]], forcing human populations into the areas known as [[Last Glacial Maximum refugia]], including modern Italy and the [[Balkans]], parts of the [[Iberian Peninsula]] and areas around the [[Black Sea]].

This period saw cultures such as the [[Solutrean]] in France and Spain. Human life may have continued on top of the ice sheet, but we know next to nothing about it, and very little about the human life that preceded the European glaciers. In the early part of the period, up to about 30 kya, the [[Mousterian Pluvial]] made northern Africa, including the [[Sahara]], well-watered and with lower temperatures than today; after the end of the Pluvial the Sahara became arid.

[[File:Europe20000ya.png|thumb|upright=1.25|left|European [[Last Glacial Maximum]] refuges, 20,000 BP:<br/>
{{legend|#c54b00|[[w:Solutrean|Solutrean]] and Proto Solutrean Cultures}}
{{legend|#ca00b0|[[w:Epigravettian|Epigravettian]] Culture}}
]]
The Last Glacial Maximum was followed by the [[Allerød oscillation]], a warm and moist global [[interstadial]] that occurred around 13.5 to 13.8 kya. Then there was a very rapid onset, perhaps within as little as a decade, of the cold and dry [[Younger Dryas]] climate period, giving [[Subarctic climate|sub-arctic conditions]] to much of northern Europe. 
The [[Preboreal]] rise in temperatures also began sharply around 10.3 kya, and by its end around 9.0 kya had brought temperatures nearly to present day levels, although the climate was wetter.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}
This period saw the Upper Paleolithic give way to the start of the following [[Mesolithic]] cultural period.

As the glaciers receded sea levels rose; the [[English Channel]], [[Irish Sea]] and [[North Sea]] were land at this time, and the Black Sea a fresh-water lake. In particular the Atlantic coastline was initially far out to sea in modern terms in most areas, though the Mediterranean coastline has retreated far less, except in the north of the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]] and the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]]. The rise in sea levels continued until at least 7.5 kya ([[6th millennium BC|5500 BC]]), so evidence of human activity along Europe's coasts in the Upper Paleolithic is mostly lost, though some traces have been recovered by fishing boats and [[marine archaeology]], especially from [[Doggerland]], the lost area beneath the North Sea.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}

==Timeline==
{{See also|Prehistoric Europe#Upper Paleolithic}}
===50,000&ndash;40,000 BP===
[[File:Anatomically Modern Humans archaeological remains, Europe and Africa, directly dated, calibrated carbon dates as of 2013.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Known archaeological remains in Europe and Africa of [[anatomically modern human]]s: directly dated, calibrated carbon dates as of 2013<ref name="HighamWesselinghHedgesBergmanDouka2013">{{Cite journal|last1=Higham|first1=Thomas F. G.|last2=Wesselingh|first2=Frank P.|last3=Hedges|first3=Robert E. M.|last4=Bergman|first4=Christopher A.|last5=Douka|first5=Katerina|date=11 September 2013|title=Chronology of Ksar Akil (Lebanon) and Implications for the Colonization of Europe by Anatomically Modern Humans|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=8|issue=9|article-number=e72931 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0072931|issn=1932-6203|pmc=3770606|pmid=24039825|bibcode=2013PLoSO...872931D|doi-access=free}}</ref>{{rp|pages=e72931}}]]
[[File:Ksar Akil Fossils.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Layer sequence at [[Ksar Akil]] in the [[Levantine corridor]], and discovery of two fossils of ''[[Homo sapiens]]'', dated to 40,800 to 39,200 years BP for "Egbert",<ref name="HighamWesselinghHedgesBergmanDouka2013" />{{rp|pages=e72931}}and 42,400–41,700 BP for "Ethelruda"<ref name="HighamWesselinghHedgesBergmanDouka2013" />{{rp|pages=e72931}}]]

====50,000 BP====
* Numerous Aboriginal stone tools were found in [[gravel]] sediments in [[Castlereagh, New South Wales|Castlereagh]], Sydney, Australia. At first when these results were new they were controversial; more recently dating of the same strata has revised and corroborated these dates.<ref name=Attenbrow-2010>{{Cite book | last1= Attenbrow | first1= Val | year= 2010 | title= Sydney's Aboriginal Past: Investigating the Archaeological and Historical Records | location= Sydney | publisher= UNSW Press | isbn= 978-1-74223-116-7 | pages= 152–153 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=TDxldj_SLcYC&q=inauthor%3A%22Val%20Attenbrow%22&pg=PA152 | access-date= 11 November 2013 }}</ref><ref name=Stockton-Nanson-2004>{{Cite journal | last1= Stockton | first1= Eugene D. | last2= Nanson | first2= Gerald C. |date=April 2004 | title= Cranebrook Terrace Revisited | journal= Archaeology in Oceania | volume= 39 | issue= 1 | pages= 59–60 | jstor= 40387277 | doi= 10.1002/j.1834-4453.2004.tb00560.x}}</ref> 
* Start of the [[Mousterian Pluvial]] in North Africa.
* Occupants of the [[Fa Hien Cave|Fa-Hien Lena cave]], [[Sri Lanka]] had developed [[History of archery|bow and arrow]] technology 48,000 BP (though the earliest known bow and arrow technology dates to about 65,000 BP from [[Sibudu Cave]], South Africa<ref name="Backwell">{{cite journal | last1 = Backwell | first1 = L | last2 = d'Errico | first2 = F | last3 = Wadley | first3 = L | year = 2008 | title = Middle Stone Age bone tools from the Howiesons Poort layers, Sibudu Cave, South Africa | journal = Journal of Archaeological Science | volume = 35 | issue = 6 | pages = 1566–1580 | doi = 10.1016/j.jas.2007.11.006 | bibcode = 2008JArSc..35.1566B }}</ref><ref name="Backwell2018">{{cite journal | last1 = Backwell | first1 = L | last2 = Bradfield | first2 = J | last3 = Carlson | first3 = KJ | last4 = Jashashvili | first4 = T | last5 = Wadley | first5 = L | last6 = d'Errico | first6 = F | year = 2018 | title = The antiquity of bow-and-arrow technology: evidence from Middle Stone Age layers at Sibudu Cave | journal = Journal of Archaeological Science | volume = 92 | issue = 362 | pages = 289–303 | doi = 10.15184/aqy.2018.11 | doi-access = free | hdl = 11336/81248 | hdl-access = free }}</ref><ref name="Lombard">{{Cite journal|title=Indications of bow and stone-tipped arrow use 64,000 years ago in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa|journal=Antiquity|year=2010|doi = 10.1017/S0003598X00100134
|vauthors=Lombard M, Phillips L|volume=84|issue=325|pages=635–648|s2cid=162438490}}</ref><ref name="Lombard M">{{Cite journal|title=Quartz-tipped arrows older than 60 ka: further use-trace evidence from Sibudu, Kwa-Zulu-Natal, South Africa|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|year=2011|doi = 10.1016/j.jas.2011.04.001
|vauthors=Lombard M|volume=38|issue=8|pages=1918–1930|bibcode=2011JArSc..38.1918L }}</ref>).
====48,000 BP====
The first direct evidence for [[Neanderthal|Neanderthals]] hunting [[Panthera spelaea|cave lions]]. This is based on a cave lion skeleton found in [[Siegsdorf|Seigsdorf, Germany]] which has hunting lesions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Russo |first1=Gabriele |last2=Milks |first2=Annemieke |last3=Leder |first3=Dirk |last4=Koddenberg |first4=Tim |last5=Starkovich |first5=Britt M. |last6=Duval |first6=M. |last7=Zhao |first7=J.-X. |last8=Darga |first8=Robert |last9=Rosendahl |first9=Wilfried |last10=Terberger |first10=Thomas |date=12 October 2023 |title=First direct evidence of lion hunting and the early use of a lion pelt by Neanderthals |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=16405 |doi=10.1038/s41598-023-42764-0 |issn=2045-2322|doi-access=free |pmid=37828055 |pmc=10570355 |bibcode=2023NatSR..1316405R }}</ref>

====45,000–43,000 BP====
{{see also|Initial Upper Paleolithic}}
* Earliest evidence of modern humans found in Europe, in Southern Italy.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/science/fossil-teeth-put-humans-in-europe-earlier-than-thought.html|title=Fossil Teeth Put Humans in Europe Earlier Than Thought|first=John Noble|last=Wilford|date=2 November 2011|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> These are indirectly dated.<ref name="HighamWesselinghHedgesBergmanDouka2013" />{{rp|page=6}}
* Earliest mathematical artifact, the notched [[Lebombo bone]], a possible tally stick or lunar calendar, dated to 44,000–43,000 BP in [[Eswatini (Swaziland)]], southern Africa.<ref>Francesco d'Errico et al. (2012) Early evidence of San material culture represented by organic artifacts from Border Cave, South Africa. ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'' '''109'''(33): 13214-13219. It is called a notched bone, illustrated in Fig. 1, ''12'' {{cite journal |title=Early evidence of San material culture represented by organic artifacts from Border Cave, South Africa |doi=10.1073/pnas.1204213109 |volume=109 |issue=33 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |pages=13214–13219 |year=2012 |last1=d'Errico |first1=F. |last2=Backwell |first2=L. |last3=Villa |first3=P. |last4=Degano |first4=I. |last5=Lucejko |first5=J. J. |last6=Bamford |first6=M. K. |last7=Higham |first7=T. F. G. |last8=Colombini |first8=M. P. |last9=Beaumont |first9=P. B. |pmc=3421171 |pmid=22847420|bibcode=2012PNAS..10913214D |doi-access=free }}</ref>
* Oldest-known mining in archaeological record, the [[Ngwenya Mine]] in Swaziland, at about 43,000 years ago, where humans mined [[hematite]] to make the red pigment [[ochre]].<ref>Swaziland Natural Trust Commission, "Cultural Resources – Malolotja Archaeology, Lion Cavern," Retrieved 27 August 2007, {{cite web|url=http://www.sntc.org.sz/cultural/malarch.asp |title=Swaziland National Trust Commission – Cultural Resources – Malolotja Archaeology, Lion Cavern |access-date=5 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221001/http://www.sntc.org.sz/cultural/malarch.asp |archive-date=3 March 2016 }}.</ref><ref>Peace Parks Foundation, "Major Features: Cultural Importance." Republic of South Africa: Author. Retrieved 27 August 2007, [http://www.peaceparks.org/story.php?mid=168&pid=148].</ref>
* Earliest directly dated figurative [[Sulawesi#Oldest_known_cave_art|cave art]] of mankind at [[Caves in the Maros-Pangkep karst|Leang Bulu' Sipong]] in [[Sulawesi]], [[Indonesia]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Brumm|first1=Adam|last2=Oktaviana|first2=Adhi Agus|last3=Burhan|first3=Basran|last4=Hakim|first4=Budianto|last5=Lebe|first5=Rustan|last6=Zhao|first6=Jian-xin|last7=Sulistyarto|first7=Priyatno Hadi|last8=Ririmasse|first8=Marlon|last9=Adhityatama|first9=Shinatria|last10=Sumantri|first10=Iwan|last11=Aubert|first11=Maxime|date=1 January 2021|title=Oldest cave art found in Sulawesi|journal=Science Advances|language=en|volume=7|issue=3|article-number=eabd4648|doi=10.1126/sciadv.abd4648|pmid=33523879|pmc=7806210|bibcode=2021SciA....7.4648B|issn=2375-2548|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===43,000–41,000 BP===
* Microlithic artefacts have been excavated from [[Kana, West Bengal|Kana]], [[West Bengal]], India.
* Ornaments and skeletal remains of modern humans, at [[Ksar Akil]] in [[Lebanon]]. These are directly dated.<ref name="HighamWesselinghHedgesBergmanDouka2013" />{{rp|page=6}}
* [[Denisova hominin]]s live in the [[Altai Mountains]] (Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan).

===40,000&ndash;30,000 BP===
====40,000–35,000 BP====
[[File:Floete Schwanenknochen Geissenkloesterle Blaubeuren.jpg|thumb|150px|Bone flute, [[Aurignacian]], c. 35,000 BC]]
* First human inhabitants in [[Perth]], Australia, as evidenced by archaeological findings on the Upper Swan River.<ref>{{cite book |first=Sandra |last=Bowdler |chapter=Human settlement |editor-first=D. |editor-last=Denoon |title=The Cambridge History of the Pacific Islanders |pages=41–50 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, England}} Cited in {{cite web |url=http://www.archaeology.arts.uwa.edu.au/staff/bowdler__research_interests/the_pleistocene_pacific |title=The Pleistocene Pacific |first=Sandra |last=Bowdler |publisher=[[University of Western Australia]] |access-date=26 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216181223/http://www.archaeology.arts.uwa.edu.au/about/research/bowdler__research_interests/the_pleistocene_pacific |archive-date=16 February 2008}}</ref>
* During this time period, [[Melbourne]], Australia was occupied by [[hunter-gatherer]]s.<ref name="merrimerri">Isabel Ellender and Peter Christiansen, ''People of the Merri Merri. The Wurundjeri in Colonial Days'', Merri Creek Management Committee, 2001 {{ISBN|0-9577728-0-7}}</ref><ref>Gary Presland, ''The First Residents of Melbourne's Western Region'' (revised edition), Harriland Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-646-33150-7}}. Presland says on page 1: "There is some evidence to show that people were living in the [[Maribyrnong River]] valley, near present day [[Keilor]], about 40,000 years ago."</ref> 
* Early cultural centre in the [[Swabian Alps]], oldest depiction of a human being ([[Venus of Hohle Fels]]), beginning of the [[Aurignacian]].
*{{lang|de|[[Lion-human|Löwenmensch]]}} figure created in [[Hohlenstein-Stadel]], one of the earliest examples of figurative art. It is now in Ulmer Museum, [[Ulm]], Germany.
* The first [[Paleolithic flutes|flutes]] appear in Germany.
* Notational signs <!--from ~37,000 years ago--> in caves, apparently conveying [[calendar]]ic meaning about the behaviour of animal species drawn next to them, are [[History of writing#Recorded history of writing|the first]]{{Broken anchor|date=2025-08-01|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=History of writing#Recorded history of writing|reason= The anchor (Recorded history of writing) [[Special:Diff/1208301603|has been deleted]].|diff_id=1208301603}} known (proto-)[[writing]] in history {{see above|[[#Notational signs|above]]}}.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mysterious marks on Ice Age cave art may have been ancient records |url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mysterious-marks-ice-age-cave-art |access-date=15 February 2023 |work=Science News |date=27 January 2023 |archive-date=15 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215212025/https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mysterious-marks-ice-age-cave-art |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="10.1017/S0959774322000415"/>
* Most of the giant vertebrates and [[megafauna]] in Australia became extinct.
* Fishing of pelagic fish species at [[Jerimalai (cave)|Jerimalai shelter]], Timor.[[File:Vestonicka venuse edit.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Venus of Dolní Věstonice]], the oldest surviving ceramic figurine in the world (29,000 – 25,000 BC)]]
* Examples of [[cave art]] in Spain are dated from around 40,000 BP, making them the oldest examples of cave art yet discovered in Europe (see: [[Caves of Nerja]]). Scientists theorise that the paintings may have been made by [[Neanderthals]], rather than by modern humans.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18449711 |work=BBC News |title=Red dot becomes 'oldest cave art'|date=15 June 2012|access-date=27 November 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first1=A. W. G. |last1=Pike |first2=D. L. |last2=Hoffmann |first3=M. |last3=García-Diez |first4=P. B. |last4=Pettitt |first5=J. |last5=Alcolea |first6=R. |last6=De Balbín |first7=C. |last7=González-Sainz |first8=C. |last8=de las Heras |first9=J. A. |last9=Lasheras |first10=R. |last10=Montes |first11=J. |last11=Zilhão |display-authors=6 |doi=10.1126/science.1219957 |journal=Science |volume=336 |issue=6087 |title=U-Series Dating of Paleolithic Art in 11 Caves in Spain|year=2012 |pages=1409–1413 |pmid=22700921 |bibcode=2012Sci...336.1409P |s2cid=7807664 |url=https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1498254 }}</ref>
* Wall painting with horses, rhinoceroses and aurochs is made at [[Chauvet Cave]], [[Vallon-Pont-d'Arc]], Ardéche gorge, France. Discovered in December 1994.
*Evidence for continued Neanderthal presence in the Iberian Peninsula at 37,000 years ago was published in 2017.<ref name=Zilhao2017>{{cite journal | last1 = Zilhão | first1 = João | display-authors = etal | year = 2017| title = Precise dating of the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition in Murcia (Spain) supports late Neandertal persistence in Iberia | journal = Heliyon | volume = 3| issue = 11| article-number = e00435| doi = 10.1016/j.heliyon.2017.e00435 | doi-access = free | pmid = 29188235 | pmc = 5696381 | bibcode = 2017Heliy...300435Z }}</ref>
* [[Archaeology of China|Archaeological]] studies support human presence in the [[Chek Lap Kok]] area (now [[Hong Kong International Airport]]) from 35,000 to 39,000 years ago.<ref name=HKAS1>{{cite web|url=http://www.hkarch.org/en_news.html |title=The Trial Excavation at the Archaeological Site of Wong Tei Tung, Sham Chung, Hong Kong SAR |publisher=[[Hong Kong Archaeological Society]] |date=January 2006 |access-date=21 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303144015/http://www.hkarch.org/en_news.html |archive-date=3 March 2009 }}</ref>
* [[Zar Cave|Zar]], Yataghyeri, [[Damjili Cave|Damjili]] and [[Tağlar Cave|Taghlar]] caves in [[Azerbaijan]].
* First evidence of people inhabiting [[Japan]].<ref name="keally">[http://www.t-net.ne.jp/~keally/preh.html "Prehistoric Archaeological Periods in Japan"]. Charles T. Keally.</ref>

====35,000-30,000 BP====
* Kostenki XVII, a layer of the [[Kostyonki (palaeolithic site)|Kostenki (Kostyonki) site]], on the middle [[Don River (Russia)|Don River]], was occupied by the early upper paleolithic [[Spitsyn culture]].
* The [[Red Lady of Paviland]] (really a young man) lived around 33,600 years ago.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pettitt|first1=Paul|last2=White|first2=Mark|title=The British Palaeolithic: hominin societies at the edge of the Pleistocene world|page=415|date=2012|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-67454-6}}</ref>

====30,000 BP====
* First [[ground stone]] tools appear in Japan.<ref>Keiji Imamura, ''Prehistoric Japan: New perspectives on insular East Asia'' University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1996 {{ISBN|0-8248-1853-9}}</ref>
* End of the [[Mousterian Pluvial]] in North Africa.
* The area of [[Sydney]] was occupied by [[Aboriginal Australians]] (specifically, the [[Eora]] and [[Dharug]] people) during this time period, as evidenced by [[radiocarbon dating]].<ref name="Settlers' history rewritten">
*{{cite news|last=Macey|first=Richard|date=2007|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/settlers-history-rewritten/2007/09/14/1189276983698.html|title=Settlers' history rewritten: go back 30,000 years|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=5 July 2014}}
*{{cite book |first=Geoffrey |last=Blainey |title=A Very Short History of the World |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-14-300559-9}}</ref> In an archaeological dig in [[Parramatta]], [[Greater Western Sydney|Western Sydney]], it was found that the Aboriginals used [[charcoal]], stone tools and possible ancient campfires.<ref>{{cite book |first=Geoffrey |last=Blainey |title=A Very Short History of the World |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-14-300559-9}}</ref> 
* First human settlement in [[Alice Springs]], [[Northern Territory]], Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aboriginalart.com.au/culture/arrernte.html |title=Arrernte Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre Alice Springs |access-date=30 May 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110524150302/http://aboriginalart.com.au/culture/arrernte.html| archive-date= 24 May 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref> 
* [[Kilu Cave]] at [[Buka Island|Buka]] in the [[Solomon Islands (archipelago)|Solomons]] is evidence for the first human settlement of an [[oceanic island]] and for navigating the open ocean.
[[File:Venus de Brassempouy.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|The [[Venus of Brassempouy]] is preserved in the [[Musée d'Archéologie Nationale]] at [[Saint-Germain-en-Laye]], near Paris.]]
[[File:15 PanneauDesLion(PartieGauche).jpg|thumb|30,000-year-old [[Panthera spelaea|cave lion]] and [[woolly rhinoceros]] painting found in the [[Chauvet Cave]], France]]

===30,000&ndash;20,000 BP===
====29,000–25,000 BP====
* Eruption of the [[Ciomad]] volcano, the last volcanic eruption in the [[Carpathians]].
* [[Venus of Dolní Věstonice]] (Czech Republic). It is the oldest known ceramic in the world.
* [[Venus of Willendorf]], Austria, created. It is now at the [[Natural History Museum, Vienna]].
* Human settlement in [[Beijing]], China dates from about 27,000 to 10,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/ext/field/beijing/whc/pkm-site.htm|title=The Peking Man World Heritage Site at Zhoukoudian|date=14 November 2014}}</ref>
* Paintings of spotted horses, [[Pech Merle]] cave, [[Dordogne]], date to c.25,000 years ago<ref>{{cite journal |author=Pruvost, M. |author2=Bellone, R. |author3=Benecke, N. |author4=Sandoval-Castellanos, E. |author5=Cieslak, M. |author6=Kuznetsova, T. |author7=Morales-Muniz, A. |author8=O'Connor, T. |author9=Reissmann, M. |author10=Hofreiter, M. |author11=Ludwig, A. |title=Genotypes of predomestic horses match phenotypes painted in Paleolithic works of cave art |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |date=7 November 2011 |volume=108 |issue=46 |pages=18626–18630 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1108982108 |pmid=22065780 |pmc=3219153 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2011PNAS..10818626P }}</ref>

====24,000 BP====
* Start of the second [[Mousterian Pluvial]] in North Africa.

====23,000 BP====
* [[Venus of Petřkovice]] is created at Petřkovice in [[Ostrava]], Czech Republic. It is now in Archeological Institute, [[Brno]].

====22,000 BP====
* [[Last Glacial Maximum]]: [[Venus of Brassempouy]], Grotte du Pape, [[Brassempouy]], [[Landes (department)|Landes]], France, created. It is now at Musée des Antiquités Nationales, [[Saint-Germain-en-Laye]].

====21,000 BP====
*Artifacts suggests early human activity occurred at some point in [[Canberra]], Australia.<ref>{{citation|last1=Flood|first1=J. M.|last2=David|first2=B.|last3=Magee|first3=J.|last4=English|first4=B.|year=1987|title=Birrigai: a Pleistocene site in the south eastern highlands|journal=Archaeology in Oceania|volume=22|pages=9–22|doi=10.1002/j.1834-4453.1987.tb00159.x}}</ref> Archaeological evidence of settlement in the region includes inhabited [[rock shelter]]s, [[rock art]], burial places, camps and quarry sites, and stone tools and arrangements.<ref name="Gillespie84">{{cite book|last=Gillespie|first=Lyall|title=Aborigines of the Canberra Region|publisher=Wizard (Lyall Gillespie)|location=Canberra|year=1984|pages=1–25|isbn=978-0-9590255-0-7}}</ref> 
* End of the second [[Mousterian Pluvial]] in North Africa.

===20,000&ndash;10,000 BP===
{{main|Epipaleolithic}}
* [[Last Glacial Maximum]]. Mean [[sea level]]s are believed to be {{convert|110 to 120|m}} ''lower than present'',<ref>Sea level data from ''main article:'' [[Cosquer cave]]</ref> with the direct implication that many coastal and lower riverine valley archaeological sites of interest are today under water.

====18,000 BP====
* Ibex-headed [[spear-thrower]], from [[Mas d'Azil cave|Mas-d'Azil cave]], now at the Musée de la Préhistoire in the village of [[Le Mas-d'Azil]].
* [[Mammoth]]-bone village in [[Mezhyrich, Cherkasy Oblast|Mezhyrich]], [[Ukraine]]

====17,000 BP====
[[File:Lascaux painting.jpg|thumb|Lascaux [[cave painting]], 15,000 BC, a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]]]
* Spotted human hands are painted at [[Pech Merle]] cave, [[Dordogne]], France. Discovered in December 1994.
* [[Oldest Dryas]] [[stadial]].
* Hall of Bulls at [[Lascaux]] in France is painted. Discovered in 1940. Closed to the public in 1963.
* Bird-Headed man with bison and Rhinoceros, [[Lascaux]], is painted.
* Lamp with ibex design, from La Mouthe cave, [[Dordogne]], France, is made. It is now at Musée des Antiquités Nationales, [[Saint-Germain-en-Laye]].
* Paintings in [[Cosquer Cave]] are made, where the cave mouth is now under water at Cap Margiou, France.

====15,000 BP====
* [[Bølling oscillation|Bølling]] interstadial.
* Bison, Le Tuc d'Audoubert, [[Ariège (department)|Ariège]], France.
* [[Paleo-Indians]] move across North America, then southward through Central America.
* Pregnant woman and deer (?), from Laugerie-Basse, France was made. It is now at Musée des Antiquités Nationales, [[St.-Germain-en-Laye]].
'''14,000 BP'''
[[File:Wells Reindeer Age articles.png|thumb|Reindeer Age articles]]
* [[Older Dryas]] [[stadial]], [[Allerød oscillation|Allerød]] interstadial.
* [[Paleo-Indians]] searched for big game near what is now the [[Hovenweep National Monument]].
* Bison, on the ceiling of a cave at [[Cave of Altamira|Altamira]], Spain, is painted. Discovered in 1879. Accepted as authentic in 1902.{{clarify|date=July 2017}}
* [[Younger Dryas]] stadial.
* Beginning of the [[Holocene extinction]].

====12,000 BP====
* Wooden buildings in South America ([[Chile]]). 
* First [[pottery]] vessels in Japan.

====11,000 BP====
* First evidence of human settlement in [[Cueva de las Manos|Argentina]].
* The [[Arlington Springs Man]] dies on the island of Santa Rosa, off the coast of California, United States.
* Human remains deposited in caves which are now located off the coast of Yucatán, Mexico.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna5955043|title=Divers find traces of ancient Americans|website=[[NBC News]]|date=9 September 2004}}</ref>
* [[Creswellian culture]] settlement on [[Hengistbury Head]], England, dates from around this year.

====10,000 BP====
*Evidence of a massacre near [[Lake Turkana]], [[Kenya]] indicates [[paleolithic warfare|upper paleolithic warfare]].<ref>M. Mirazón Lahr et al., [https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v529/n7586/full/nature16477.html "Inter-group violence among early Holocene hunter-gatherers of West Turkana, Kenya"], ''Nature'' 529, 394–398 (21 January 2016), {{doi|10.1038/nature16477}}.
"Here we report on a case of inter-group violence towards a group of hunter-gatherers from Nataruk, west of Lake Turkana ... Ten of the twelve articulated skeletons found at Nataruk show evidence of having died violently at the edge of a lagoon, into which some of the bodies fell. The remains ... offer a rare glimpse into the life and death of past foraging people, and evidence that warfare was part of the repertoire of inter-group relations among prehistoric hunter-gatherers."
{{cite web|publisher=University of Cambridge|date=20 January 2016|url=http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/evidence-of-a-prehistoric-massacre-extends-the-history-of-warfare |title=Evidence of a prehistoric massacre extends the history of warfare|access-date=20 March 2017}}.
For early depiction of interpersonal violence in rock art see:
{{cite journal|last1=Taçon|first1=Paul|last2=Chippindale|first2=Christopher|author-link1=Paul Taçon|author-link2=Christopher Chippindale|title=Australia's Ancient Warriors: Changing Depictions of Fighting in the Rock Art of Arnhem Land, N.T.|journal=Cambridge Archaeological Journal|date=October 1994|volume=4|issue=2|pages=211–48|doi=10.1017/S0959774300001086|s2cid=162983574}}.</ref>

==Cultures==
[[File:Venus of Malta (Siberia, RUssia), cop, 076846.jpg|thumb|Statuette from the [[Venus figurines of Mal'ta]], from the easternmost Upper Paleolithic culture, the [[Mal'ta–Buret' culture]], [[Siberia]]]]
{{Paleolithic|Upper}}
The Upper Paleolithic in the [[Franco-Cantabrian region]]:
*The [[Châtelperronian]] culture was located around central and south western France, and northern Spain. It appears to be derived from the [[Mousterian]] culture, and represents the period of overlap between [[Neanderthal]]s and ''[[Human|Homo sapiens]]''. This culture lasted from approximately 45,000 BP to 40,000 BP.<ref name="nature.com"/>
*The [[Aurignacian]] culture was located in Europe and south west Asia, and flourished between 43,000 and 26,000 BP. It may have been contemporary with the [[Périgordian]] (a contested grouping of the earlier Châtelperronian and later Gravettian cultures).
*The [[Gravettian]] culture was located across Europe. Gravettian sites generally date between 33,000 and 20,000 BP.
*The [[Solutrean]] culture was located in eastern France, Spain, and England. Solutrean artifacts have been dated c. 22,000 to 17,000 BP.
*The [[Magdalenian]] culture left evidence from Portugal to Poland during the period from 17,000 to 12,000 BP.
*Central and east Europe:
**33,000 BP, [[Gravettian]] culture in southern Ukraine<ref name=bbc>{{cite news | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13846262 | title = Early human fossils unearthed in Ukraine | first = Jennifer | last = Carpenter |date = 20 June 2011 | publisher = BBC | access-date = 21 June 2011}}</ref>
**30,000 BP, [[Szeletian]] culture
**22,000 BP, [[Pavlovian culture|Pavlovian]], [[Aurignacian]] cultures
**13,000 BP, [[Ahrensburg culture]] (Western Germany, Netherlands, England)
**12,000 BP, [[Epigravettian]]
*North and west Africa, and Sahara:
**32,000 BP, [[Aterian]] culture (Algeria, Libya)
**12,000 BP, [[Ibero-Maurusian]] (a.k.a. Oranian, Ouchtatian), and Sebilian cultures
**10,000 BP, [[Capsian]] culture (Tunisia, Algeria)
*Central, south, and east Africa:
**50,000 BP, [[Fauresmith (industry)|Fauresmith]] culture
**30,000 BP, [[Stillbayan]] culture
**12,000 BP, [[Lupembian]] culture
**11,000 BP, [[Magosian]] culture (Zambia, Tanzania)
**9,000 BP, [[Wiltonian]] culture
*West Asia (including Middle East):
**50,000 BP, [[Jabroudian]] culture (Levant)
**40,000 BP, [[Amoudian]] culture
**30,000 BP, [[Emireh culture]]
**20,000 BP, [[Aurignacian]] culture
**12,000 BP, [[Kebarian]], Athlitian cultures
*South, central and northern Asia:
**30,000 BP, [[Angara]] culture
**11,000 BP, [[Khandivili]] culture
*East and southeast Asia:
**30,000 BP, [[Sen-Doki]] culture
**16,000 BP, [[Jōmon period]] starts in [[Ancient Japan]]
**12,000 BP, [[Japanese Paleolithic|pre-Jōmon ceramic]] culture (Japan)
**10,000 BP, [[Hoabinhian]] culture (Northern Vietnam)
**9,000 BP, [[Jōmon]] culture (Japan)

*Oceania:
**40,000 BP, [[Whadjuk]] and [[Noongar]] culture (Perth, Australia)<ref>Mulvaney, D J and White, Peter, 1987, Australians to 1788, Fairfax, Syme & Weldon, Sydney</ref>
**35,000 BP, [[Wurundjeri]], [[Bunurong|Boonwurrung]] and [[Wathaurong]] culture (Melbourne, Australia)<ref>Gary Presland, ''Aboriginal Melbourne: The Lost Land of the Kulin People'', Harriland Press (1985), Second edition 1994, {{ISBN|0-9577004-2-3}}. This book describes in some detail the archaeological evidence regarding aboriginal life, culture, food gathering and land management, particularly the period from the flooding of Bass Strait and Port Phillip from about 7–10,000 years ago, up to the European colonisation in the nineteenth century.</ref>
**30,000 BP, [[Eora people|Eora]] and [[Darug]]<ref name=AusAnthrop>{{cite web|url=http://www.ausanthrop.net/resources/ausanthrop_db/detail.php?id_search=76 |title=Daruk |work=AusAnthrop Australian Aboriginal tribal database |author=Dousset, Laurent |year=2005 |access-date=27 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110409035643/http://www.ausanthrop.net/resources/ausanthrop_db/detail.php?id_search=76 |archive-date=9 April 2011 }}</ref> culture (Sydney, Australia)<ref name="Aboriginal people and place">{{cite web|publisher=Sydney Barani|date=2013|url=http://www.sydneybarani.com.au/sites/aboriginal-people-and-place/|title=Aboriginal people and place|access-date=5 July 2014}}</ref>
**30,000 BP, [[Aranda people|Arrernte]] culture ([[Alice Springs]], [[Central Australia]])<ref>{{cite journal|last=Thorley|first=Peter|title=Rock-art and the archaeological record of Indigenous settlement in Central Australia|journal=Australian Aboriginal Studies|year=2004|issue=1|url=http://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=200409749;res=APAFT|access-date=18 June 2011}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col}}
* [[Last Glacial Maximum]]
* [[Mesolithic]]
* [[Neolithic]]
* [[Neolithic Europe]]
* [[Behavioral modernity]]
* [[Cro-Magnon 1]]
* [[Aurignacian]]
* [[Epigravettian]]
* [[Sungir]]
* [[Cultural universal]]
* [[Quaternary extinction event]]
* [[Early human migrations]]
* [[Dean R. Snow]] – A leading archeologist who has conducted extensive Paleolithic research.
{{end div col}}

==References==
* Gilman, Antonio (1996). "Explaining the Upper Palaeolithic Revolution". Pp.&nbsp;220–239 (Chap. 8) in ''Contemporary Archaeology in Theory: A Reader''. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.newarchaeology.com/articles/uprevolution.php The Upper Paleolithic Revolution]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091113054944/http://www.newarchaeology.com/articles/uprevolution.php |date=13 November 2009 }}.
*[http://www.anthropark.wz.cz/aagalery.htm Picture Gallery of the Paleolithic (reconstructional palaeoethnology)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614033200/http://www.anthropark.wz.cz/aagalery.htm |date=14 June 2017 }} – Libor Balák at the Czech Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Archaeology in Brno, The Center for Paleolithic and Paleoethnological Research.

{{Prehistoric technology| state=expanded}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Upper Paleolithic| ]]
[[Category:Pleistocene]]
[[Category:Quaternary geochronology]]
[[Category:Historical eras]]