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Overview of Four Eras of Evolution
of Art, Religion, Mind and Psyche
,,,,,Oldowan
,,,,,Early Paleolithic
,,,,,Middle Paleolithic
.....Upper Paleolithic
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Overview of Four Eras of Evolution
of Art, Religion, Mind and Psyche
,,,,,Oldowan
,,,,,Early Paleolithic
,,,,,Middle Paleolithic
.....Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic (UP) period saw the emergence of 'anatomically modern Homo sapiens' (AMHS) = Homo sapiens sapiens who eventually developed a new type of flake tool industry, Mode IV blade and burin and microlithic technology. In Africa this period is designated the "Later Stone Age" (LSA), typified by the innovation of microlithic industries.
Early and key sites:
Hoedjies Punt, South Africa, 71-300,000 BP - Homo sapiens sapiens;
.....MSA
Omo Kibish I and II, Ethiopia, (AR/AR) 195,000±5K BP - H. sapiens sapiens; ?MSA?
Mumba Shelter, Tanzania, 110-130,000 BP - H. sapiens sapiens; MSA
Klasies River Mouth, South Africa, LBS 118,000 BP;
.....SAS 94,000±10,000 BP - H. sapiens sapiens; MSA tools with punched blades
Border Cave, South Africa, (ESR-laser) BC1 either 82,000 or 170,000 BP;
.....BC3 76,000; BC5 74,000±5,000 - H. sapiens sapiens, MSA tools
Wadi Hasa 621, Jordan, (TL) 90-120K - 'Tabun C' Mousterian tools
Qafzeh, Israel, layers XVII-XXIV, (ave.Useries) 97,000 BP±3,000;
.....(TL) 90-100,000, (ave. TL) 92,000±5,000 - H. sapiens sapiens, 'Tabun C'
.....Mousterian tools, burial and skeletal bone deposition, H.11 buried with
.....fallow deer antler on upper chest; H.9 and H.10, adult female and infant
.....buried together; linear engraved triangular core, symbolic use of red ochre
Katanda, Zaire, >89,000+22/-15,000 - MSA with harpoon points
Skhul, Israel, layers B, (ave. Useries) 80,000 and 43,000 BP - H. sapiens
.....sapiens, 'Tabun C' Mousterian tools
Blombos Cave, South Africa, c. 77,000 BP, MSA with bone awls,
.....other bone tools, organized fishing, mark-engraved bone and
.... multiple 'X's + 'tri-line' engraved ochre pieces
Howieson's Poort industry, South Africa, 65-70,000 BP - transitional
.....MSA LSA
Tongtianyan Cave, Guangxi, south China, c. 68,000 or c. 111-139,000 -
.....Liujiang hominid, a modern H. sapiens sapiens
Mumba Shelter, Tanzania, c. 65,000 BP - H. sapiens sapiens;
.....MSA/LSA transition
Témera, Morocco, 60-90,000 or 40-130,000 BP - H. sapiens sapiens;
.....MSA (Aterian)
Dar-es-Soltan, Morocco, 60-90,000 BP - H. sapiens sapiens;
.....MSA (Aterian)
Apollo 11 Cave, Namibia, (62 IE dates on eggshell) 59,000 BP -
.....earliest rock paintings in world
Nauwalabila I, Kakadu, N.T., Australia, (OSL) 53-59,000 - tools
Malakunanja II, Kakadu, N.T., Australia, (TL) ca. 50,000 BP - tools,
.....red, yellow ochre 'crayons', hematite use
Taramsa Hill, Egypt, (OSL) 49,800-80,400 BP - H. sapiens sapiens;
..... MP tools, burial
Devil's Lair, W.A., Australia, (C14, OSL, ESR) 48,000 BP - tools, bone spear
..... points and bone ornaments
Lake Mungo, Willandra Lakes, Australia, oldest level (OSL) between 45.7±2.3
......and 50.1±2.3 - core tool and scaper tradition; LM3 Homo sapiens sapiens
..... 40±2K but (ESR tooth, combined est. age) 62±6Kochre burial (OSL)
Site 55, Pakistan, 45,000 BP - UP (earliest UP in South Asia subcontinent)
Ksar Akil, Lebanon, 44,000 or 50,000 BP - Initial Upper Paleolithic
.....(IUP) tools (non-Aurignacian)
Carpenter's Gap, Kimberly, Australia, (calibr. AMS) 44,000 BP - earliest C14 dated
.....rock painting
Üçagizh, Turkey, c. 41,000 BP - Initial Upper Paleolithic
Niah Caves, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia, 40,000 BP - Homo sapiens sapiens
El Castillo Cave, Spain, 40,000±2000 BP - Aurignacian tools
Mladec, CZ, c. 40,000 BP - H. sapiens sapiens and Aurignacian tools
Makarovoa-4, Lena River, Siberia, >39,000 BP - Initial Upper Paleolithic
Border Cave, South Africa, 39±3,000 BP - Early LSA tools
White Paintings Shelter, Botswana, 38-50,000 BP - MSA/LSA transition,
..... including barbed bone points
Boker A, Israel, 37,000 BP - UP tools, Ahmarian tradition (earliest UP Middle East)
Bohunician, Moravia, 36,000 to 43,000 BP - Initial Upper Paleolithic
Ust-Karakol, Altai area, Western Siberia, Russia, 35,100±2,850 BP -
.....Aurignacian tools intrusive on indigenous UP blade industry
Boker Tachtit, Israel, 33,105±4,100 to 45,000 BP - Initial Upper Paleolithic
Bacho Kiro, Bulgaria, 32,700±300 BP - H. sapiens sapiens
Chauvet Cave, France, (C14) 32,400±720 BP - earliest C14 dated European
.....cave paintings; charcoal under bear skull placed on stone slab,
.....31,390-32,600±420/490 BP, Aurignacian
K'sar Akil XIII-VII, Lebanon, 32,000 BP - Aurignacian (earliest in Middle East)
Fumane Cave, near Verona, Italy, 32,000-36,500 BP - cave
.....paintings, animal, horned anthropomorph
Höhlenstein-Stadel, Germany, (C14) 31-32,000 BP, TL 37,000 BP -
.....Aurignacian tools, 1 feline-headed anthropomorphic ivory figurine
Vogelhard, Germany, (C14) 30-36,000 BP - Aurignacian tools, ivory and
.....bone figurines, 3 felid, 1 bovid, 2 mammoth, 1 horse, 1 human
Fa Hien Cave, Sri Lanka, 31,000 BP - microlithic UP tools, H. sapiens sapiens
Geißenklösterle, Germany, (C14) 30-34,000 BP - Aurignacien tools, ivory
.....sculptures, 1 mammoth, 1 bear, 1 bovid, 1 anthropomorph relief
Hohle Fels, Germany, (C14) 30-33,000 BP - Aurignacian tools, ivory
.....sculptures, 1 horse, 1 waterbird, 1 feline-headed anthropomorph
Cosquer Cave, France, 27-28,000 BP - art, Aurignacian
Gargas Cave, France, 26,900 BP - bone chip in fissure crossing
..... stencilled hand, Aurignacian
16R Dune, Rajasthan, India, (TL) 26,210+2,200/-1,700 BP - UP tools
Arcy-sur-Cure, Grande Grotte, 26-28,000 BP - ochred bones under
.....art, Aurignacian
Rose Cottage Cave, South Africa, 26,000 BP - 'microlithic MSA'
Patne, Maharashtra, India, (C14) 25,500±200 - Late UP, engraved beads
Pech Merle Cave, France, 24,700 BP - 'spotted horse' painting
Cougnac Cave, France, 23,000 and 25,000 BP - deer paintings
Krems, Stratzing, Austria, (C14) 20-32,000 BP - Aurignacien, female
.....figurine in probable ecstatic trance posture
Lascaux Cave, 17,000 BP - cave art, Early Magdalenian
Tabun Cave, Philippines, (U/Th) 16,500±2,000 BP but C14 22-24,000 BP
..... - tools, H. sapiens sapiens
Altamira Cave, Spain, 13,000-15,000 BP - cave art, Middle Magdalenian
Niaux Cave, France, 13,000-13,800 BP - cave art, Middle Magdalenian
Le Portel Cave, France, 12,000 BP - cave art, Late Magdalenian
Paleontology: Homo sapiens sapiens appears to emerge in Africa probably around 200,000 BP (Omo Kibish I and II,195,000±5K BP) and then spread into the Middle East (Qafzeh 120,000±8,000 BP), then into Asia (70,000 BP), Australia (60,000 BP) and Europe (40,000 BP) and eventually into the Americas (Monte Verde, Chile, 13,000 BP, possibly 33,000 BP; Pedra Furada 32,000 BP). It appears that 'racial' trait differentiation emerged late in the evolution of Homo sapiens sapiens, perhaps only within the last ten or so thousand years of our three million year evolution. So-called 'white' racial traits appear to be a mix of African and Asian traits, with a ratio by continent of roughly 65% Asian and 35% African [Bowcock, Kidd et al. 1991. Drift, admixture and selection in human evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 88:839-843.]). Earliest homo sapiens sapiens who appear in Africa first use MSA technology and only later evolve LSA technology, c. 60,000 BP.
Tool Characteristics: Mode IV industries, characterized by the development of blade and burin flaked stone tool technology appear in the Middle East around 45,000 years ago, spread to Europe (Aurignacian 43,000 BP), and reach Siberia before 39,000 BP. Blades are long narrow flakes produced from specialized cores with a prismatic form. Upper Paleolithic industries in Europe are divided chronologically into Aurignacian, Perigordian, Solutrean and Magdalenian industries.
A full step ahead of Europe, Mode IV tool types such as blades appear in Africa as early as the earliest Middle Stone Age sites (e.g., Kaphthurin, c. 280,000 BP) and Mode V microlithic tools are typical of the African Later Stone Age, with the MSA/LSA transition dating around 60,000-70,000 years ago (Howiesons Port). In Europe and Asia, microlithic technologies are not typical until the Mesolithic beginning around 10,000 BP.
After the Howieson's Poort transition, MSA assemblages also continue (sometimes called Late MSA or MSA3) mixed or distinct from LSA industries. Later Stone Age traditions range from industries dominated by microliths (e.g., Wilton, Capsian, Ibero-Maurusian) to industries dominated by scrapers (e.g., Smithfield). Small tool size, bladelet technology, and hafting of arrows and other tools are distinctive of LSA, although appearing at MSA sites. LSA and UP shows sophisticated working of organic materials such as bone, antler, horn, ivory, tooth and shell. In Australia, microlithic tools appear with blade tools, such as points, after about 6,000 BP.
Earliest evidence of worked bone harpoon points
.....Katanda, Zaire, >89,000+22/-15,000 BP in MSA context;
.....White Paintings Shelter, Botswana, 38-50,000 BP - MSA/LSA transition,
.....including barbed bone points
.....European Aurignacian, c.40,000 BP.
Earliest evidence of brush hut - Ohalo II, Israel, 19,000 BP.
Hafting with bitumen - Umm el Tlel, Syria, minimum 36,000 BP
Economic Subsistence Mode: Large, medium and small game hunting; fishing; and continued scavenging and gathering.
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