Institute For Ice Age Studies

Unlike the Mousterian, the culture(s) of the Upper Paleolithic can be understood using the same analytical and interpretive vocabulary that anthropologists apply to human cultures today.

Generally recognized cultural periods for the Upper Paleolithic. The dates, in years before present (BP), are approximate and vary from region to region.

• Chatelperronian 35,000-30,000*
• Aurignacian 40,000-28,000*
• Gravettian 28,000-22,000
• Solutrean 22,000-18,000
• Magdalenian 18,000-11,000
• Azilian 11,000-9,000

** In western Europe, these two different types of artifact assemblage coexist during the early part of the Upper Paleolithic. The significance of this overlap is not yet fully understood, although the Chatelperronian is generally considered to be a transformed Mousterian, existing only after the Aurignacian culture is present in any given region.