Mesolithic

The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, mesos "middle"; λίθος, lithos "st one") is t he Old World
archaeological period bet ween t he Upper Paleolit hic and t he Neolit hic. The t erm Epipaleolit hic is
oft en used synonymously, especially for out side nort hern Europe, and for t he corresponding
period in t he Levant and Caucasus. The Mesolit hic has different t ime spans in different part s of
Eurasia. It refers t o t he final period of hunt er-gat herer cult ures in Europe and West ern Asia,
bet ween t he end of t he Last Glacial Maximum and t he Neolit hic Revolut ion. In Europe it spans
roughly 15,000 t o 5,000 BP; in Sout hwest Asia (t he Epipalaeolit hic Near East ) roughly 20,000 t o
8,000 BP. The t erm is less used of areas furt her east , and not at all beyond Eurasia and Nort h
Africa.

The t ype of cult ure associat ed wit h t he Mesolit hic varies bet ween areas, but it is associat ed
wit h a decline in t he group hunt ing of large animals in favour of a broader hunt er-gat herer way of
life, and t he development of more sophist icat ed and t ypically smaller lit hic t ools and weapons
t han t he heavy-chipped equivalent s t ypical of t he Paleolit hic. Depending on t he region, some use
of pot t ery and t ext iles may be found in sit es allocat ed t o t he Mesolit hic, but generally
indicat ions of agricult ure are t aken as marking t ransit ion int o t he Neolit hic. The more permanent
set t lement s t end t o be close t o t he sea or inland wat ers offering a good supply of food.
Mesolit hic societ ies are not seen as very complex, and burials are fairly simple; in cont rast ,
grandiose burial mounds are a mark of t he Neolit hic.

Terminology
 Mesolithic

Reconstruction of a "temporary" Mesolithic

house in Ireland; waterside sites offered
good food resources.

Alternative names Epipaleolithic (for

the Near East)

Geographical range Europe

Period Middle of Stone Age

Dates 20,000 to 8,000 BP

(Southwest Asia)
15,000–5,000 BP
(Europe)

Preceded by Upper Paleolithic

Followed by Neolithic

The Mesolithic is the final period of the Pleistocene characterized by a progressive rise of temperatures, between the end
of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Neolithic Revolution at the start of the Holocene. Evolution of temperature in the
Post-Glacial period according to Greenland ice cores.[1]
Mesolithic artefacts

The t erms "Paleolit hic" and "Neolit hic" were int roduced by John Lubbock in his work Pre-historic
Times in 1865. The addit ional "Mesolit hic" cat egory was added as an int ermediat e cat egory by
Hodder West ropp in 1866. West ropp's suggest ion was immediat ely cont roversial. A Brit ish school
led by John Evans denied any need for an int ermediat e: t he ages blended t oget her like t he colors
of a rainbow, he said. A European school led by Louis Laurent Gabriel de Mort illet assert ed t hat
t here was a gap bet ween t he earlier and lat er.

Edouard Piet t e claimed t o have filled t he gap wit h his naming of t he Azilian Cult ure. Knut St jerna
offered an alt ernat ive in t he "Epipaleolit hic", suggest ing a final phase of t he Paleolit hic rat her
t han an int ermediat e age in it s own right insert ed bet ween t he Paleolit hic and Neolit hic.

By t he t ime of Vere Gordon Childe's work, The Dawn of Europe (1947), which affirms t he
Mesolit hic, sufficient dat a had been collect ed t o det ermine t hat a t ransit ional period bet ween
t he Paleolit hic and t he Neolit hic was indeed a useful concept .[2] However, t he t erms "Mesolit hic"
and "Epipalaeolit ic" remain in compet it ion, wit h varying convent ions of usage. In t he archaeology
of Nort hern Europe, for example for archaeological sit es in Great Brit ain, Germany, Scandinavia,
Ukraine, and Russia, t he t erm "Mesolit hic" is almost always used. In t he archaeology of ot her
areas, t he t erm "Epipaleolit hic" may be preferred by most aut hors, or t here may be divergences
bet ween aut hors over which t erm t o use or what meaning t o assign t o each. In t he New World,
neit her t erm is used (except provisionally in t he Arct ic).

"Epipaleolit hic" is somet imes also used alongside "Mesolit hic" for t he final end of t he Upper
Paleolit hic immediat ely followed by t he Mesolit hic.[3] As "Mesolit hic" suggest s an int ermediat e
period, followed by t he Neolit hic, some aut hors prefer t he t erm "Epipaleolit hic" for hunt er-
gat herer cult ures who are not succeeded by agricult ural t radit ions, reserving "Mesolit hic" for
cult ures who are clearly succeeded by t he Neolit hic Revolut ion, such as t he Nat ufian cult ure.
Ot her aut hors use "Mesolit hic" as a generic t erm for hunt er-gat herer cult ures aft er t he Last
Glacial Maximum, whet her t hey are t ransit ional t owards agricult ure or not . In addit ion, t erminology
appears t o differ bet ween archaeological sub-disciplines, wit h "Mesolit hic" being widely used in
European archaeology, while "Epipalaeolit hic" is more common in Near East ern archaeology.

Europe

The Shigir Idol

Two skeletons of women aged between 25 and 35 years, dated between 6740 and 5680 BP, each of whom died a violent
death. Found at Téviec, France in 1938.

The Balkan Mesolit hic begins around 15,000 years ago. In West ern Europe, t he Early Mesolit hic,
or Azilian, begins about 14,000 years ago, in t he Franco-Cant abrian region of nort hern Spain and
sout hern France. In ot her part s of Europe, t he Mesolit hic begins by 11,500 years ago (t he
beginning Holocene), and it ends wit h t he int roduct ion of farming, depending on t he region
bet ween c. 8,500 and 5,500 years ago. Regions t hat experienced great er environment al effect s
as t he last glacial period ended have a much more apparent Mesolit hic era, last ing millennia.[4] In
nort hern Europe, for example, societ ies were able t o live well on rich food supplies from t he
marshlands creat ed by t he warmer climat e. Such condit ions produced dist inct ive human
behaviors t hat are preserved in t he mat erial record, such as t he Maglemosian and Azilian cult ures.
Such condit ions also delayed t he coming of t he Neolit hic unt il some 5,500 BP in nort hern Europe.

The t ype of st one t oolkit remains one of t he most diagnost ic feat ures: t he Mesolit hic used a
microlit hic t echnology – composit e devices manufact ured wit h Mode V chipped st one t ools
(microlit hs), while t he Paleolit hic had ut ilized Modes I–IV. In some areas, however, such as Ireland,
part s of Port ugal, t he Isle of Man and t he Tyrrhenian Islands, a macrolit hic t echnology was used
in t he Mesolit hic.[5] In t he Neolit hic, t he microlit hic t echnology was replaced by a macrolit hic
t echnology, wit h an increased use of polished st one t ools such as st one axes.

There is some evidence for t he beginning of const ruct ion at sit es wit h a rit ual or ast ronomical
significance, including St onehenge, wit h a short row of large post holes aligned east –west , and a
possible "lunar calendar" at Warren Field in Scot land, wit h pit s of post holes of varying sizes,
t hought t o reflect t he lunar phases. Bot h are dat ed t o before c. 9,000 BP (t he 8t h millennium
BC).[6]
An ancient chewed gum made from gunk of birch bark revealed t hat a woman enjoyed a meal of
hazelnut s and duck about 5,700 years ago in sout hern Denmark.[7][8] Mesolit hic people influenced
Europe’s forest s by bringing favored plant s like hazel wit h t hem.[9]

As t he "Neolit hic package" (including farming, herding, polished st one axes, t imber longhouses
and pot t ery) spread int o Europe, t he Mesolit hic way of life was marginalized and event ually
disappeared. Mesolit hic adapt at ions such as sedent ism, populat ion size and use of plant foods
are cit ed as evidence of t he t ransit ion t o agricult ure.[10] Ot her Mesolit hic communit ies reject ed
t he Neolit hic package likely as a result of ideological reluct ance, different worldviews and an
act ive reject ion of t he sedent ary-farming lifest yle.[11] In one sample from t he Blät t erhöhle in
Hagen, it seems t hat t he descendant s of Mesolit hic people maint ained a foraging lifest yle for
more t han 2000 years aft er t he arrival of farming societ ies in t he area;[12] such societ ies may be
called "Subneolit hic". For hunt er-gat herer communit ies, long-t erm close cont act and int egrat ion
in exist ing farming communit ies facilit at ed t he adopt ion of a farming lifest yle. The int egrat ion of
t hese hunt er-gat herer in farming communit ies was made possible by t heir socially open
charact er t owards new members.[11] In nort h-East ern Europe, t he hunt ing and fishing lifest yle
cont inued int o t he Medieval period in regions less suit ed t o agricult ure, and in Scandinavia no
Mesolit hic period may be accept ed, wit h t he locally preferred "Older St one Age" moving int o t he
"Younger St one Age".[13]

Art

Compared t o t he preceding Upper Paleolit hic and t he following Neolit hic, t here is rat her less
surviving art from t he Mesolit hic. The Rock art of t he Iberian Medit erranean Basin, which
probably spreads across from t he Upper Paleolit hic, is a widespread phenomenon, much less well
known t han t he cave-paint ings of t he Upper Paleolit hic, wit h which it makes an int erest ing
cont rast . The sit es are now most ly cliff faces in t he open air, and t he subject s are now most ly
human rat her t han animal, wit h large groups of small figures; t here are 45 figures at Roca dels
Moros. Clot hing is shown, and scenes of dancing, fight ing, hunt ing and food-gat hering. The figures
are much smaller t han t he animals of Paleolit hic art , and depict ed much more schemat ically,
t hough oft en in energet ic poses.[14] A few small engraved pendant s wit h suspension holes and
simple engraved designs are known, some from nort hern Europe in amber, and one from St ar Carr
in Brit ain in shale.[15] The Elk's Head of Huit t inen is a rare Mesolit hic animal carving in soapst one
from Finland.

The rock art in t he Urals appears t o show similar changes aft er t he Paleolit hic, and t he wooden
Shigir Idol is a rare survival of what may well have been a very common mat erial for sculpt ure. It
is a plank of larch carved wit h geomet ric mot ifs, but t opped wit h a human head. Now in
fragment s, it would apparent ly have been over 5 met res t all when made.[16] The Ain Sakhri Lovers
from modern Israel, are a Nat ufian carving in calcit e.
The Ain Sakhri lovers; c. 9000 BCE Animated image showing the
(late Epipalaeolithic Near East); sequence of engravings on a
calcite; height: 10.2 cm, width: pendant excavated from the
6.3 cm; from Ain Sakhri (near Mesolithic archaeological site of
Bethleem, Israel); British Museum Star Carr in 2015[17]
(London)

Roca dels Moros, Spain, The

Dance of Cogul, tracing by Henri
Breuil
Ceramic Mesolithic

In Nort h-East ern Europe, Siberia, and cert ain sout hern European and Nort h African sit es, a
"ceramic Mesolit hic" can be dist inguished bet ween c. 9,000 t o 5,850 BP. Russian archaeologist s
prefer t o describe such pot t ery-making cult ures as Neolit hic, even t hough farming is absent . This
pot t ery-making Mesolit hic cult ure can be found peripheral t o t he sedent ary Neolit hic cult ures. It
creat ed a dist inct ive t ype of pot t ery, wit h point or knob base and flared rims, manufact ured by
met hods not used by t he Neolit hic farmers. Though each area of Mesolit hic ceramic developed
an individual st yle, common feat ures suggest a single point of origin.[18] The earliest
manifest at ion of t his t ype of pot t ery may be in t he region around Lake Baikal in Siberia. It
appears in t he Elshan or Yelshanka or Samara cult ure on t he Volga in Russia 9,000 years ago,[19][20]
and from t here spread via t he Dnieper-Donet s cult ure t o t he Narva cult ure of t he East ern Balt ic.
Spreading west ward along t he coast line it is found in t he Ert ebølle cult ure of Denmark and
Ellerbek of Nort hern Germany, and t he relat ed Swift erbant cult ure of t he Low Count ries.[21][22]

Pottery with re-construction repairs found in Xianrendong cave, dating to 20,000–10,000 years ago.[23]

A 2012 publicat ion in t he Science journal, announced t hat t he earliest pot t ery yet known
anywhere in t he world was found in Xianrendong cave in China, dat ing by radiocarbon t o bet ween
20,000 and 19,000 years before present , at t he end of t he Last Glacial Period.[24][25] The carbon
14 dat at ion was est ablished by carefully dat ing surrounding sediment s.[25][26] Many of t he
pot t ery fragment s had scorch marks, suggest ing t hat t he pot t ery was used for cooking.[26]
These early pot t ery cont ainers were made well before t he invent ion of agricult ure (dat ed t o
10,000 t o 8,000 BC), by mobile foragers who hunt ed and gat hered t heir food during t he Lat e
Glacial Maximum.[26]
Cultures

T he Mesolit hic
T his box:
view t alk

edit (ht t ps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.p

hp?t it le=Templat e:Mesolit hic&act ion=
edit )

↑ Upper Paleolithic

Mesolithic Europe
Fosna–Hensbacka culture
Komsa culture
Maglemosian culture
Iron Gates Mesolithic
Kunda culture
Narva culture
Komornica culture
Swiderian culture
Epipaleolithic Transylvania
Mesolithic Transylvania
Tardenoisian
Schela Cladovei culture
Mesolithic Southeastern Europe
Epipalaeolithic Near East
Levantine corridor
Natufian
Khiamian
Caucasus
Trialetian Mesolithic
Zagros
Zarzian culture

↓ Neolithic
 Temporal
Geographical range Periodization Culture Notable sites
range

Sout heast ern Europe Balkan 15,000–

Francht hi, Theopet ra[27]
(Greece, Aegean) Mesolit hic 7,000 BP

Sout heast ern Europe Balkan Iron Gat es 13,000–

Lepenski Vir[28]
(Romania/Serbia) Mesolit hic cult ure 5,000 BP

14,000–
Early
West ern Europe Azilian 10,000
Mesolit hic
BP

Fosna- 12,000–
Nort hern Europe (Norway) Hensbacka 10,500
cult ure BP

12,000–
Early Komsa
Nort hern Europe (Norway) 10,000
Mesolit hic cult ure
BP

12,000– Shigir Idol, Vt oraya

Cent ral Asia (Middle Urals)
5,000 BP Beregovaya[29]

Nort heast ern Europe Middle Kunda 10,500– Lammasmägi, Pulli

(Balt ics and Russia) Mesolit hic cult ure 7,000 BP set t lement

Maglemosian 11,000–
Nort hern Europe
cult ure 8,000 BP

Sauvet errian 10,500–

West ern and Cent ral Europe
cult ure 8,500 BP

St ar Carr, Howick house,

West ern Europe (Great Brit ish 11,000–
Gough's Cave, Cramond,
Brit ain) Mesolit hic 5,500 BP
Aveline's Hole

Irish 11,000–
West ern Europe (Ireland) Mount Sandel
Mesolit hic 5,500 BP

West ern Europe (Belgium Tardenoisian 10,000–

and France) cult ure 5,000 BP

Cent ral and East ern Europe

Lat e Neman 9,000–
(Belarus, Lit huania and
Mesolit hic cult ure 5,000 BP
Poland)
 Nøst vet and
Nort hern Europe 8,200–
Lihult
(Scandinavia) 5,200 BP
cult ures

Nort hern Europe Kongemose 8,000–

(Scandinavia) cult ure 7,200 BP

Nort hern Europe Lat e 7,300–

Ert ebølle
(Scandinavia) Mesolit hic 5,900 BP

West ern Europe Lat e 7,300–

Swift erbant
(Net herlands) Mesolit hic 5,400 BP

Lat e 7,600–
West ern Europe (Port ugal)
Mesolit hic 5,500 BP

"Mesolithic" outside of Western Eurasia

Mesolithic stone mortar and pestle, Kebaran culture, Epipaleolithic Near East. 22,000–18,000 BP

While Paleolit hic and Neolit hic have been found useful t erms and concept s in t he archaeology of
China, and can be most ly regarded as happily nat uralized, Mesolit hic was int roduced lat er, most ly
aft er 1945, and does not appear t o be a necessary or useful t erm in t he cont ext of China.
Chinese sit es t hat have been regarded as Mesolit hic are bet t er considered as "Early
Neolit hic".[30]
In t he archaeology of India, t he Mesolit hic, dat ed roughly bet ween 12,000 and 8,000 BP, remains
a concept in use.[31]

In t he archaeology of t he Americas, an Archaic or Meso-Indian period, following t he Lit hic st age,

somewhat equat es t o t he Mesolit hic.

Geographical Temporal
Periodization Culture Notable sites
range range

Nort h Africa Lat e Upper Paleolit hic t o Iberomaurusian 24,000–

(Morocco) Early Mesolit hic cult ure 10,000 BP

Capsian 12,000–
Nort h Africa
cult ure 8,000 BP

Kenya 8,200–
East Africa Gamble's cave [32]
Mesolit hic 7,400 BP

Cent ral Asia 12,000– Shigir Idol, Vt oraya

(Middle Urals) 5,000 BP Beregovaya[33]

East Asia 16,000–

Jōmon cult ures
(Japan) 1,350 BP

East Asia 10,000–

Jeulmun pot t ery period
(Korea) 3,500 BP

Sout h Asia 12,000– Bhimbet ka rock

Sout h Asian St one Age
(India) 4,000 BP [34] shelt ers, Lekhahia

Caucasian Hunt er-Gat herer

Hist ory of archery#Prehist ory

List of St one Age art

Mammot h ext inct ion

West ern Hunt er-Gat herer

Younger Dryas

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27. Sarah Gibbens, "Face of 9,000-Year-Old Teenager Reconstructed" (https://news.nationalgeographic.co

m/2018/01/archaeology-agvi-greek-stoneage-facial-reconstruction/) , National Geographic, 19
January 2018.

2 . Srejovic, Dragoslav (1972). Europe's First Monumental Sculpture: New Discoveries at Lepenski Vir.
ISBN 978-0-500-39009-2.

29. Central Asia does not enter the Neolithic, but transitions from the Mesolithic to the Chalcolithic in the
fourth millennium BC (metmuseum.org (https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/02/nc.html) ). The
early onset of the Mesolithic in Central Asia and its importance for later European mesolithic cultures
was understood only after 2015, with the radiocarbon dating of the Shigor idol to 11,500 years old. N.E.
Zaretskaya et al., "Radiocarbon chronology of the Shigir and Gorbunovo archaeological bog sites,
Middle Urals, Russia", Proceedings of the 6th International Radiocarbon and Archaeology Symposium,
(E Boaretto and N R Rebollo Franco eds.), RADIOCARBON Vol 54, No. 3–4, 2012, 783–94.

30. Zhang, Chi, The Mesolithic and the Neolithic in China (https://www.dlib.si/stream/URN:NBN:SI:doc-ON9U
3D5U/3841cd9c-4969-4198-8dea-efd7f3b2bf7e/PDF) (PDF), 1999, Documenta Praehistorica. Poročilo
o raziskovanju paleolitika, neolotika in eneolitika v Sloveniji. Neolitske študije = Neolithic studies, [Zv.] 26
(1999), pp. 1–13 dLib

31. Sailendra Nath Sen, Ancient Indian History and Civilization (https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Wk4_I
CH_g1EC&pg=PA23) , p. 23, 1999, New Age International, ISBN 8122411983, 978-8122411980

32. "Africa-Paleolithic" (http://www.britannica.com/event/Stone-Age/Africa) . Britannica. Retrieved

28 November 2018.
33. Central Asia does not enter the Neolithic, but transitions from the Mesolithic to the Chalcolithic in the
fourth millennium BC (metmuseum.org (https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/02/nc.html) ). The
early onset of the Mesolithic in Central Asia and its importance for later European mesolithic cultures
was understood only after 2015, with the radiocarbon dating of the Shigor idol to 11,500 years old. N.E.
Zaretskaya et al., "Radiocarbon chronology of the Shigir and Gorbunovo archaeological bog sites,
Middle Urals, Russia", Proceedings of the 6th International Radiocarbon and Archaeology Symposium,
(E Boaretto and N R Rebollo Franco eds.), RADIOCARBON Vol 54, No. 3–4, 2012, 783–794.

34. The term "Mesolithic" is not a useful term for the periodization of the South Asian Stone Age, as certain
tribes in the interior of the Indian subcontinent retained a mesolithic culture into the modern period, and
there is no consistent usage of the term. The range 12,000–4,000 BP is based on the combination of
the ranges given by Agrawal et al. (1978) and by Sen (1999), and overlaps with the early Neolithic at
Mehrgarh. D.P. Agrawal et al., "Chronology of Indian prehistory from the Mesolithic period to the Iron
Age", Journal of Human Evolution, Volume 7, Issue 1, January 1978, 37–44: "A total time bracket of c.
6,000–2,000 B.C. will cover the dated Mesolithic sites, e.g. Langhnaj, Bagor, Bhimbetka, Adamgarh,
Lekhahia, etc." (p. 38). S.N. Sen, Ancient Indian History and Civilization (https://books.google.co.uk/boo
ks?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&pg=PA23) , 1999: "The Mesolithic period roughly ranges between 10,000 and
6,000 B.C." (p. 23).

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