Upper Palaeolithic
subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Upper Palaeolithic (Upper Paleolithic or Late Stone Age) is the third and last part of the Palaeolithic period. It lasted from about 40,000 to 10,000 years ago.[1] Humans used tools for hunting[2] and fishing.[3] They also developed cave paintings. In this period, the Neanderthal man completely disappeared, leaving Homo sapiens as the only surviving species in the human genus.[3]
In Europe, Asia and Africa, this time is known as the last part of the Old Stone Age.[3]
The first modern humans found in Western Europe date back to about 36,000 years ago. Those fossils were found in the south-west of Romania.[4] The founds were made in a stone cave called Peștera cu Oase.
The Lascaux cave paintings are from this time period. They are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1979 and are in France.
Evidence for belief in the afterlife in the Upper Palaeolithic: appearance of burial rituals and ancestor worship.