Homo Sapiens and the Upper Paleolithic

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Chapter 10

• Homo Sapiens and the Upper Paleolithic

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Chapter Outline

• When did anatomically modern forms of Homo
  sapiens appear?
• What was the culture of Upper Paleolithic peoples
  like?
• When and how did humans spread to Australia and
  the Americas?

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Homo Sapiens and the Upper Paleolithic

• By 30,000 y.a. populations in all parts of the
  inhabited world resembled modern humans.
• People refined adaptations to local conditions,
  and expanded into new regions.
• Biological consequences included reduction of the
  face to modern proportions, and the reduction of
  body mass.

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Cultural Adaptations in the Upper Paleolithic

• Tools took over cutting, softening, and clamping
  functions once performed by the teeth.
• This resulted in a reduction in the size of the
  teeth and jaws.
• Technological improvements reduced selective
  pressures that had favored massive, robust bodies.

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Upper Paleolithic Tools

• Pressure flaking was used to press off small
  flakes as the final step in stone tool making.
• Burins were used to work bone, horn, antler, and
  ivory into fishhooks, harpoons, and eyed needles.

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Upper Paleolithic Tools

• Spear-throwers added to the efficiency of the
  spear as a hunting tool.
• Nets made from the fibers of wild plants were
  used in net hunting.
• Bow and arrow was invented.

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Upper Paleolithic Art

• Carvings in tool handles
• Statues
• Cave paintings
• Bone flutes and whistles

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The Spread of Upper Paleolithic Peoples

• Expanded into regions previously uninhabited by
  their archaic forebears.
• Colonization of Siberia began 42,000 y.a.
• 10,000 years later they reached the northeastern
  part of that region.

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The Spread of Upper Paleolithic Peoples

• 60,000 y.a., people arrived in Australia and New
  Guinea.
• They crossed at least 90 kilometers of water that
  separated Australia and New Guinea from the Asian
  continent throughout Paleolithic times.

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The Spread of Upper Paleolithic Peoples

• The first Americans may have come by boat.
• They may have traveled between islands or
  ice-free pockets of coastline, from as far away
  as the Japanese islands and down North Americas
  northwest coast.

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Major Paleolithic Trends Tools

• Tools became more sophisticated, varied, and
  specialized.
• Tools were lighter and smaller, with a better
  ratio between length of cutting edge and weight
  of stone.
• Tools were specialized according to region and
  function.

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Blade Technique
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Pressure Flaking

• Two methods used for pressure flaking in which a
  bone, antler, or wooden tool is used to press
  rather than strike off small flakes.

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Major Paleolithic Trends Hunting

• Tools were developed that exceeded other animals
  physical equipment spear thrower, net hunting,
  bow and arrow.
• Improved social organization and cooperation were
  important for survival and population growth.

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Ancient Peoples Spreading to the Americas
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Major Paleolithic Trends Regionalism

• Due to two factors
• Perceived need to distinguish symbolically ones
  own people from others.
• The need to adapt to differing environments.