ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the state of method and theory in Upper Paleolithic archeology and examines some of the problems that must be met in attempting to design its future research strategy. The Upper Paleolithic consists of a relatively diverse block of hunting and gathering cultures that occupied Europe and the Near East during the latter half of the Final or Würm Glacial period, Late Glacial extensions of which penetrated as far as western North Africa and northern Asia. The Dordogne sequence is based upon what is at present world’s richest concentration of Upper Paleolithic sites. The bulk of these are rock-shelter or abri stations which have been uncovered in the talus of limestone cliffs that dominate many of the valleys in this region. The environmental side of the equation was dominated by an extremely high biomass that apparently greatly exceeded the present carrying capacity of Arctic and sub-Arctic tundras and steppes, which today exist only at much higher latitudes.
