"If you like it then you should of put a permanent settlement on it".

Photo taken from: 

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/for/lowres/forn2417l.jpg

With the emergence of the Upper Paleolithic period, we begin to see a change in the lifestyles of the people living during this period. The Upper Paleolithic evidence shows the beginning of pre-agriculture sedentary sites in Europe and Asia. Archaeological data provides evidence for a change in the settlements, allowing for expansion, sedentary sites and site organization. The evidence suggests a more permanent base camp and other smaller sites that are used for specific purpsoses. Overall, in the Upper Paleolithic period, we are seeing sites that are occupied for longer periods of time. ("Upper Paleolithic Sites in Europe" Hirst, 2012)

Along with changes in the settlement patterns of villages, the Upper Paleolithic also has changes in a number of other lifestyle characteristics such as:

Photo taken form: 

http://anthropologynet.files.wordpress.com/

2007/09/hunter-gatherer-cartoon.gif

1. Changes in Subsistence and Hunting Techniques.
This involves the decrease in focus on big game and instead a movement towards a wide diversity of food sources such as: marine resources, plants, small mammals, fish, and some big game. Hunting specialization also occurs as the Upper Paleolithic focuses on hunting mammoths and reindeer. There is also an increase in the fishing industry of the Upper Paleolithic. The Upper Paleolithic becomes known for a Hunter-Gatherer lifestyle. (Pyburn, 2012)

2. Symoblic Behaviours become Elaborate.
The burials periods of the Upper Paleolithic are still deliberate, like the Middle Paleolithic, but now are rich in art and symbolism. (Riel-Salvatore, 2001)

3. Social Organizations
Internal organization of sites for different activities, within the village, is a common found practice during the Upper Palaeolithic. As mentioned above, the complexity of sites increases in the Upper Paleolithic. ("Upper Paleolithic Sites in Europe" Hirst, 2012)

4. Beginnings of Animal Domestication

Photo taken from:

http://www.offthemark.com/cartoons/2008-08-22.gif

Evidence from sites in Germany and Russia imply that animal, more specifically dog, domestication began during the Upper Paleolithic period. ("European Paleolithic Dogs" Hirst, 2012)

With this last point, the domestication of animals, we thank the Upper Paleolithic for allowing us all the ability to live with "Man's Best Friend". This concludes today's post in "The What's What and Who's Who of the Upper Paleolithic" blog.

Citations: 
1. Hirst, K. Kris. "European Paleolithic Dogs." Archaeology - The Study of Human History. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2012. <http://archaeology.about.com/od/domestications/qt/European-Paleolithic-Dogs.htm>

2. Hirst, K. Kris "Upper Paleolithic Sites in Europe - European Upper Paleolithic." Arcaheology - the Study of Human History. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2012. <http://archaeology.about.com/od/upperpaleolithic/tp/Upper-Paleolithic-Sites-In-Europe.htm>

3. Pyburn, Anne. "Introduction to Archaeology: Hunter-Gatherers, the Emergence of Modern humans, the Mesolithic." Indiana University. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2012.

4. Riel-Salvatore, Julien. "Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic Burials and the Use of Chronotypology in contemporary Paleolithic Research" Current Anthropology 42 (2001): n. pag Academia. Web. 7 Nov. 2012.

Lascaux Cave painting, found in southwestern France.

Photo: http://cdn.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/hires/2011/4-conservation.jpg

ART! ART! ART! As we transition from the Middle Upper Paleolithic into the Upper Paleolithic, known for it's mosaic of "modern" human behaviours, we see a huge increase in the appearance of art. This sudden surge includes cave art, such as the famous Lascaux Cave paintings, mobile art, such as the famous Venus figurines and also engraved or painted ornaments. ("The Deconstruction Zone", 2012)

Photo taken from:

artintheschool.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/090620_

cartoon_8_a14213_p465.gif

The cave paintings found during this period had a subject matter that was comprised almost exclusively of plants and animals.  The subject matter most often included mammals, birds, fish and other animals. Examples of cave art or depictions of animals on stone, from the Upper Paleolithic, can be found in a number of different places including but not limited to: Europe and the Levant, East Asia and Africa. The most famous of these caves is the Lascaux Cave in France which contains over 2,000 figurines. Hundreds of animals have been depicted and identified on these walls. This cave is a great example of the creativity and artistic abilities of people during the Upper Paleolithic time period ("The Deconstruction Zone", 2012)

Join Rick Steves (right), as he is given a tour and brief explanation of some of the scenes and paintings of the infamous Lascaux Cave in France.

Another form of art that is associated with the artistic period of the Upper Paleolithic is a mobile form of art referred to as the Venus figurines.

Venus figurines are understood to be the earliest known representations of the human female form. These mobile forms of art were abundant during the Upper Paleolithic period. These small portable pieces of art were made from a variety of materials including but not limited to: limestone, ivory, clay and bone. The figurines have been studied and a number of hypotheses have arisen in order to explain the purpose of these distinctly shaped pieces of art. There are five explanations for these works of art. (Dixson and Dixson, 2011)

Photo taken from: 

http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90

/13/1351/U3IS000Z/posters/the-venus-of-willendorf-side-view-of-female-

figurine-gravettian-culture-upper-palaeolithic-period.jpg

1. Used as a means of fertility magic.
2. May have religious meaning and depictions of a Mother Goddess Cult
3. May be real representations of women or ideal beauty
4. Representations of physical conditions of Steatopygia or Hypertrophy of breasts.
5. May be a form of pornography. 

(Dixson and Dixson, 2011)









Stay tuned for a look into the lifestyles of the Upper Paleolithic.







Citations:
1. Dixson, Alan, and Barnaby Dixson. "Venus Figurines of the European Paleolithic: Symbols of Fertility or Attractiveness?." Journal of Anthropology 2011 (2011): n.pag. Hindawi. Web. 6 Nov. 2012
2. "The Deconstruction Zone: A Brief Interpretive Overview of Upper Paleolithic Cave Art." The Deconstruction Zone.  N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. <http://thedeconstructionzone.blogspot.com/2012/03/brief-interpretive-overview-of-upper.html>

Today's post will be discussing the importance and unique characteristics of tool technologies in the Upper Paleolithic. However, before we begin on that topic it is important that you, as a student of the Upper Paleolithic, have a general understanding of the time periods that occurred before and lead up to the Upper Paleolithic. Here is a quick video to provide you with just that information!

Photo taken from:
http://acsarchaeology.com/projects/middle_to_upper_paleolithic_tran.htm

With the emergence of the Upper Paleolithic comes a time of incredible diversity and innovation in terms of tool technology. Lithics underwent a change that allowed stone technologies to reach an all time high in order to increase efficiency, variation and the number of functions. The Upper Paleolithic sees a surge of endscrapers, burins, composite tools and also an increase in the number of resources used to create such a variety of tools (Hublin, 2012).

Although the Middle and Upper Paleolithic tools were similar, the Upper Paleolithic was clearly dominated by blades and the ability to create large quantities of sharp, refined and efficient blades, while using fewer resources.

This allowed the Upper Paleolithic to provide "more blade for your buck".



To the right, we have a video of an archaeologist demonstrating how the refined blades of the Paleolithic era may have been created.

Upper Paleolithic Repertoire Summary:
1. Microliths and Blade Technology
2. Composite Tools
3. Carved Bone Tools, Ivory and Antler
4. Endscapers and Burins
5. Projectile Weaponry
(Hublin, 2012)

Photo taken from:

http://www.seppo.net/cartoons/albums/cartoons

/nature/mammals/mammuttiaro_villasarvikuono_eng.jpg

With that summary we conclude "The What's What and Who's Who of The Upper Paleolithic"'s discussion of tool technology. Come on back for some old-school art tips that you won't learn in any Berkeley art studio.









For those of you getting excited about the Upper Paleolithic, here is a trailer that discusses a number of aspects of this time period. There is a quick mention of cave art and Upper Paleolithic artistic expression at around 2:40.

Citations:

1. Hublin, Jean-Jacques . "The Earliest Modern Human Colonization of Europe." National academy of Sciences 34 (2012): n. pag. PNAS. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. 

Good Morning. Good Afternoon. Good Evening. Whatever time, whoever you are, where ever you are, welcome to....

Photo designed and taken from:http://covers.dummies.com/share.php?id=30740

"The What's What and Who's Who of The Upper Paleolithic"

You've stumbled upon this blog for one of two reasons:

1) It was completely accidental and you were attempting to google something, which you believed was of much greater importance, and somehow the forever incomprehensible google search engine brought you here.

OR

2) You're interested in the Upper Paleolithic! When did it happen? Who was involved? What really matters? And what does it all mean?

If your reason for coming to this page is the latter of the two then... CONGRATULATIONS! You have come to the right spot.

Today we will begin by taking a page or two from the newest "For Dummies" edition and provide you with a general and overall understanding of what makes the Upper Paleolithic tick.

Maybe you have seen the movie 10,000 BC and you're thinking to yourself, "Yeah, that's seems like the Upper Paleolithic Period to me". Well I'm here to inform you that you are just about 10,000 years too late. 

The Upper Paleolithic covers a span of approximately 28,000 years, starting around 50,000 years ago and continuing onwards until about 20,000 years ago. It is comprised of 3 phases: 1) Early Transitional Phase from Middle to Upper Paleolithic 2) Ahmarian Phase and 3) Aurignacian Phase. (Bar-Yosef, 2002)

So now you're probably asking yourself, "What came out of this period? In such a short time, it can't be much, right?" Wrong my friend, so wrong.

Upper Paleolithic for Dummies Overview

1.  Tools : Here we find evidence for the increased use and appearance of blade-based technology which allowed for the creation of a huge variety of refined and efficient tools, allowing for an even greater variety of specific actions and uses (Hirst, 2012).

2.  Art: Cave art, cave art, cave art. The Upper Paleolithic could just not get enough. Engravings of animals adorned the walls of famous caves. We can not forget about their mobile art. The Venus figurine was found anywhere and everywhere (Hirst, 2012).

Photo taken from: 

http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1602/images/lfmc070923_hunters-gatherers_2007.09.23.gif

3. Lifestyles: Mammoth bone huts, floors and hearths made it clear that The Upper Paleolithic liked where they were and wanted to stay a little longer than their predecessors of the Middle Paleolithic. Hunting became an art, mastered by those of the Upper Paleolithic, creating the first hunter-gatherer economy (Hirst, 2012).

This concludes "The What's What and Who's Who of the Upper Paleolithics" introduction to The Upper Paleolithic. Come on back for some fun facts that you just won't be able to resist spitting out at your next Anthropology function!

Citations:
1. Bar-Yosef, Ofer. "The Upper Paleolithic Revolution." Annual Review of Anthropology 31 (2002): 363-393. www.annualreviews.org. Web. 4 Nov. 2012.
2. Hirst, K. Kris. "Guide to the Upper Paleolithic." Archaeology - The Study of Human History. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. <http://archaeology.about.com/od/upperpaleolithic/qt/Upper=paleolithic.htm>.