What is the Upper Palaeolithic transition in Europe?

Introduction. Seen from Europe, it has been often claimed that the beginning of the “Upper Paleolithic,” around 40,000 BP, corresponds to a dual phenomenon: the development of innovative behaviors and a biological change (the disappearance of the last Neanderthals and the arrival of Homo sapiens sapiens).

What are the characteristics of Upper Paleolithic?

The first step in this profound change was the upper-Paleolithic revolution which began around 40,000 years ago and which was characterized by, among other things, 1) a rapid diversification of human artifacts, including a variety of specialized tools and weapons, body ornaments, and pottery, and 2) the emergence of …

Where is Upper Paleolithic Europe?

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 Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.

What were the major tool types of Upper Paleolithic culture in Europe?

The Upper Paleolithic Period (beginning about 40,000 years ago) was characterized by the emergence of regional stone tool industries, such as the Perigordian, Aurignacian, Solutrean, and Magdalenian of Europe as well as other localized industries of the Old World and the oldest known cultures of the…

How did humans spread throughout the globe during the Upper Paleolithic period?

Paleolithic humans were nomads, who often moved their settlements as food became scarce. This eventually resulted in humans spreading out from Africa (beginning roughly 60,000 years ago) and into Eurasia, Southeast Asia, and Australia.

What is meant by the word Palaeolithic?

: of or relating to the earliest period of the Stone Age characterized by rough or chipped stone implements.

What is Upper Paleolithic culture?

The Upper Paleolithic Period was characterized by the emergence of regional stone tool industries, such as the Perigordian, Aurignacian, Solutrean, and Magdalenian of Europe as well as other localized industries of the Old World and the oldest known cultures of the New World.

What was the Upper Paleolithic Revolution?

The Upper Palaeolithic Revolution, sometimes called ‘the Creative Explosion’, is seen as the period when the forefathers of modern forager societies emerged. Similarly to the Industrial and Neolithic Revolutions, it represents a short time span when numerous inventions appeared and cultural changes occurred.

Where are most Upper Paleolithic cave art sites?

Probably the most famous Upper Paleolithic site in the world is Lascaux Cave, a rockshelter in the Dordogne Valley of France with fabulous cave paintings, painted between 15,000 and 17,000 years ago.

What happened in Upper Paleolithic period?

What is the Upper Paleolithic used for?

Upper Paleolithic Lifestyles Hunting became specialized, and sophisticated planning is shown by the culling of animals, selective choices by season, and selective butchery: the first hunter-gatherer economy. Occasional mass animal killings suggest that in some places and at some times, food storage was practiced.

What was the religion of Paleolithic people?

Religion in the paleolithic era was not institutionalized nor was the concept well-developed. Paleolithic people believed in animism or spirits that controlled their environment and animals around them. Small stone statues of pregnant women may suggest worship of fertility or nature. They usually buried their dead.

What was the Paleolithic society like?

The economy of a typical Paleolithic society was a hunter-gatherer economy. [19] Humans hunted wild animals for meat and gathered food, firewood, and materials for their tools, clothes, or shelters. [19] [20] Human population density was very low, around only one person per square mile.

Where did Paleolithic live?

The Palaeolithic, (or Paleolithic), refers to the prehistoric period when stone tools were made by humans. They are found in the Great Rift Valley of Africa from about 3.3 million years ago.

What happened during the Paleolithic era?

During the Paleolithic Era, fire was used to prepare food, making it easier to eat. Over 300,000 years ago, Neanderthal hunter-gathers lived in Africa and Asia. They searched in groups for animals, using fire, stone tools and spears to make the kill. However, the hunters were often the ones killed.