Chapter 9: The Upper Paleolithic World

Two New Techniques (of Tool Making)

1. Indirect Percussion 2. Pressure Flaking

Cave Painting Locations

1. Inhabited rock shelters and cave entrances 2. "Galleries " immediately off the the uninhabited areas of the cave 3. Inner reaches of the caves that are hard to reach = magic rituals?

Microlith

A small, razor like blade fragment that was probably attached in a series to a wooden or bone handle to form a cutting edge. •Often halfted so the bladed wouldn't split the handle or cut the user's hand •more efficient use of flint •made for easier repair of tools

Language

A system of shared symbols, vocal or written •Foxp2 gene (Neandertals had) •With the emergence of art, occured around ~50,000 years ago

Blade

A thin flake whose length is usually more than twice its width. •in the blade technique of toolmaking, a core is prepared by shaping a piece of flint with hammer-stones into a pyramidal or cylindrical form. •Blades are then struck off until the core is used up

Indirect Percussion

A toolmaking technique common in the Upper Paleolithic. After shaping a core into a pyramidal or cylindrical form, the toolmaker can put a punch of antler or wood or another hard material into position and strike it with a hammer. Using a hammer-struck punch enabled toolmakers to strike off consistently shaped blades.

New World Cultures

•Beringia (Asia to America) •Arrived in North America ~15,000 years ago •Based on presence of Clovis tools

Developements of the Upper Paleolithic

•Cave paintings •Ornamentation of tools •Personal ornaments •Increased human population •Bow and arrow •Bone instruments •Pottery

The Paleo Indians

•Clovis Complex (mammoths) •Folson Point (buffalo) •Very similar to their cousins in the Old World

Venus Figurines

•Fertility goddess/symbol? •Self portrait of pregnant women? •Early erotica?

End of the Paleolithic

•Glaciers retreated ~10,000 years ago •Climate changed; food getting •Megafauna died out, smaller game was more common

Upper Paleolithic Tools

•Many flake tools still •Characterized by a preponderance of blades, bone/antler tools, microliths, burin, etc

Cave Paintings

•Mostly animals, not human image •Hunting magic motivation for art? •Increased as animal populations decreased •The animals they feared the most →Mammoths, bovines, horses

Maglemosian Culture

•N. Europe (10,000yrs) •Defined by Stone axes to chop wood •Bows & Arrows •Less dependance on large game - more on small •Canoes •Fishing

Cultures in Africa and Asia

•People lived in bands; would switch bands frequently •Trade •Asia was more sedentary

The Last Ice Age

•Temperatures 50 below average •Extreme conditions •Mega fauna •Trading begins (utilization of local resources) •Tent like structures in caves •Settlements up to 125 people

Burin

a chisel-like stone tool used for carving and for making such artifacts as bone and antler needles, awls, and projectile points

Ethnographic Analogy

method of comparative cultural study that extrapolates to the past from recent or current societies

Language Waves

Greenberg and Ruhlen identified 3 primary lingual waves based on the languages in the Americas 1. Amerind 2. Na-Dené 3. Inuit-Aleut (Between 1-4 waves of migration into Americas)

Atlatl

Aztec word for "spear thrower"

Upper Paleolithic

The last part (10,000 to 40,000 years ago) of the Old Stone Age, featuring tool industries characterized by long slim blades and an explosion of creative symbolic forms. •Called the Later Stone Age in Africa

Pressure Flaking

Tool-making technique whereby small flakes are struck off by pressing against the core with a bone, antler, or wooden tool