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45000–10000 BCE

Period · Europe — Western & Central

Upper Palaeolithic

45000–10000 BCE

The Upper Palaeolithic is the period of anatomically modern humans in Europe, from the Aurignacian through the Gravettian and Solutrean to the Magdalenian, covering blade technology, bone tools, ornaments and cave art. It ends with the close of the last Ice Age. Most finds come from excavated rock shelters and caves.

Dates45000–10000 BCE
RegionEurope — Western & Central
PeriodO definition39999–9999 BCE — Historic England Periods (2014)· PeriodO — Periods, Organized

Cultures

Sites

Typical types

Elsewhere

Cite this article

Stratum Study. "Upper Palaeolithic" (Period). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/study/periods/upper-palaeolithic. Accessed 2026-09-21.

BibTeX · CSL-JSON

@misc{stratum-upper-palaeolithic,
  title        = {Upper Palaeolithic},
  author       = {{Stratum Study}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/periods/upper-palaeolithic}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Period article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, periodo, wikidata. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
}

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