The
art of the Upper Paleolithic is amongst the oldest art known (sometimes called
prehistoric art). Older possible examples include the incised ochre from
Blombos Cave. Upper Paleolithic art is found in
Aurignacian Europe and the
Levant some 40,000 years ago, and on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia at a similar date, suggesting a much older origin perhaps in Africa. Cave art in Europe continued to the
Mesolithic (at the beginnings of the
Holocene) about 12,000 years ago. As this corresponds to the final phase of the
last glacial period, Upper Paleolithic art is also known as "
Ice Age art".