Upper Paleolithic/Mesolithic

Chatelperronian tools By 40,000 Years Ago…. Chatelperronian tools Burin Made on a Blade Venus of Willendorf Homo sapiens sapiens ….had “grown into” a wide variety of local habitats throughout the Old World by cultural adaptation. Upper Paleolithic Sequence in Southwestern France and Northern Spain Altamira Magdalenian 15,000-10,000BC Lascaux Solutrean 18,000-15,000BC Solutrian Laurel-leaf Points Gravettian 22,000-18,000BC “Venus” figurines Aurignacian 28,500-22,000BC Burins and Points Chatelperronian 38,000-28,500BC Backed blades

Lascaux - southwestern France Upper Paleolithic Art (ca. 12, 000 BP) Lascaux - southwestern France In this panel of Back-to Back Bison, reserves around the limbs in the background, distortion of shapes, choice of surface, symmetrical composition, are all used to create a three dimensional effect...

Altamira - northern Spain Upper Paleolithic Art (ca. 12, 000 BP) Altamira - northern Spain In this representation of a horse, red is ocher, black charcoal. Undulations in cave wall and ceiling were incorporated in the composition of the paintings.

Summary of Early Fossil Evidence This chart shows rough sequence of fossil hominids. 10,000BP ------------------------------ Homo sapiens (full culture, worldwide distribution) 100,000BP ---------------------------- Homo sapiens (Neandertal, et al.) 1mBP ---------------------------------- Homo erectus (Radiation thru Old World) 2mBP ---------------------------------- Homo habilis (Earliest Culture?) 3mBP ---------------------------------- Australopithecus var. (Fully bipedal) 4mBP ---------------------------------- Ardipithecus ramidus (Earliest hominines?) 5mBP ----------------------------------