The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 8,500 years ago.

Modern humans, who had begun migrating out of Africa during the Middle Paleolithic period, began to produce regionally distinctive cultures during the Upper Paleolithic period. The earliest remains of organised settlements in the form of campsites, some with storage pits, are encountered in the archaeological record. These were often located in narrow valley bottoms, possibly in order to make hunting passing herds of animals easier. Some sites may have been occupied year round though more generally they seem to have been used seasonally with peoples moving between them to exploit different food sources at different times of the year

Technological advances included significant developments in flint tool manufacturing with industries based on fine blades rather than cruder flakes. Burins and racloirs attest to the working of bone, antler and hides. Advanced darts also appear in this period.

The reasons for these changes in human behaviour have been attributed to the changes in climate during the period which encompasses a number of global temperature drops. These may have reduced the supply of usable timber and forced people to look at other materials whilst flint becomes brittle at low temperatures and may not have functioned as a tool

Artistic work also blossomed with Venus figurines and exotic raw materials found far from their sources suggest emergent trading links. More complex social groupings emerged, supported by more varied and reliable food sources and specialised tool types. This probably contributed to increasing group identification or ethnicity. These group identities produced distinctive symbols and rituals which are an important part of modern human behaviour.