Definition
The Upper Paleolithic is the European archaeological period from roughly 45,000 to 12,000 years ago, during which anatomically modern humans replaced Neanderthals and produced an explosive flowering of cultural complexity. The period is subdivided into named industries — Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean, Magdalenian — each defined by distinctive tool types and artistic traditions.
Hallmarks include blade-based stone tool industries with great morphological diversity; bone, antler, and ivory tools and weapons; personal ornaments including shell beads and pendants; figurative sculpture (the Venus figurines, animal carvings); painted cave art (Chauvet, Lascaux, Altamira); and large structured campsites with evidence of seasonal occupation and long-distance exchange.
Why it matters
Where it shows up
Upper Paleolithic sites span Europe from Iberia to the Russian plain. Key sites include Abri Castanet, La Madeleine, Pavlov, Sungir, Dolni Vestonice, Hohle Fels, Aurignac, and the great painted caves of France and Spain. Sungir's elaborate burials with thousands of beaded ornaments illustrate the period's social complexity.
Modern human Upper Paleolithic populations overlapped briefly with the last Neanderthals — the Châtelperronian industry, possibly made by late Neanderthals, sits at the transition. After roughly 40,000 years ago, Neanderthals disappear and only modern human populations remain in Europe.