Week 14
The Upper Paleolithic Cultural Explosion

Cultural explosion because things start changing rapidly
	Upper Paleolithic lasted from 43-11 TYA
	Most work based on W Europe sites
	Last Ice Age time of well-defined cultures & culture change- stylistic variations
	Much data from cave sites- very well preserved
Upper Paleolithic Tools
	Blade tools- Indirect Percussion
	Well-made projectile points- Pressure Flaking
	Bone and antler tools
	New tool types
		More specialized tools
		Needles & Awls
		Burins (engraving tools)
		End scrapers
		Harpoons
		Spearthrowers
	More formalized shapes
	Stylistic differences
	Clear multi-part tools
	The different cultures:
		Earliest glimmerings ~ 100 TYA in S & E Africa, 50 TYA in N Africa and 
		   Mid-east
		Aurignacian- 43 TYA in E Europe, 35 TYA in W Europe
		Chatelperronian- 36-34 TYA
		Gravettian- 27-21 TYA
		Solutrian- 21-16 TYA
		Magdalanian- 16-11 TYA
Behavior patterns
	Broadened subsistance base
		More fish and birds
		Big-game hunting
		Small game as well
	Settlements- much more permanent sites & stuctures
		Longer periods of occupation- denser sites
		Well-constructed hearths
		Mammoth-bone huts in Russia
		Sites further north as well, out onto open steppe
	Grave goods
		Clear association with tools, animal bones and decorations
		Much more often, more artifacts
	Longer movements of raw materials
		Sites in Pyrenees contain shells from both Med and Atlantic coasts
		Better stones moves further distances
	Specialization in hunting
		Going after herds rather than individual animals- especially reindeer
		Seasonal specilizations
		Specialized hunting tools; large spear points, harpoons
Art and decoration- the first clear symbolism
	Decorated tools
		Bone and antler tools
		Animal figures, geometric shapes
	Personal adornment- beads and pendants
	Sculpture
		Venus Figurines
			28-10 TYA; Through-out Europe
			Often w/ exagerated female features and no face
			Stone (as in Willendorf, Germ.) and clay (Dolni Vestonice, Czech.)
			Meaning
				Fertility- ritual & magic
				Mother Goodess- social identity
		Animal figurines
	Engravings and bas-relief
		Cave sites in W Europe
		Mostly animals
	Cave paintings
		Confined to France and Spain in Europe; scattered in rest of world
		Dates are somewhat conjectural; ~30-10 TYA
		Herd animals predominate; carnivores occasional, fish, birds, reptiles, 
		    humans rare
		Range from monochrome outlines to multicolored  perspective drawings
		All are quite well done; some are exceptional
		Can be found deep in caves
		Other paintings include handprints, geometric shapes
		Meaning
			Hunting Magic & Trophyism
			Sanctuaries
			Social Identity Markers
Expansion of territory
	Australia
		Need some kind of watercraft
		Earliest archaeological sites between 50-40 TYA
		Earliest human remains 30 TYA
	The Americas
		Probably across the Bering land bridge
		Oldest sites problematic; 
			Not well-dated; range 30-12 TYA
			Very few and scattered
			Possible several migrations during that time
		Oldest well-documented culture is Clovis
			13 TYA in Alaska, spread thoughout Americas by 9.5 TYA
			Fluted spear points
			Big-game hunters; giant bison, mammoth (grazer), 
			    mastodon (browser), giant ground sloth
			May have hunted to extinction; points change when species 
			    dissappear
			Oldest skeletons ~11 TYA
	The South Pacific
		Earliest sites 6000-5000
		Similar wave of extinction in New Zealand
	The Arctic
		The last pre-historic frontier
		Earliest at 4500 yrs ago