Mesatol

The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, mesos 'middle' + λίθος, lithos 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is
the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The
term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymously, especially for outside northern Europe, and for
the corresponding period in the Levant and Caucasus. The Mesolithic has different time spans in
different parts of Eurasia. It refers to the final period of hunter-gatherer cultures in Europe and
the Middle East, between the end of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Neolithic Revolution. In
Europe it spans roughly 15,000 to 5,000 BP; in the Middle East (the Epipalaeolithic Near East)
roughly 20,000 to 10,000 BP. The term is less used of areas farther east, and not at all
beyond Eurasia and North Africa.
The type of culture associated with the Mesolithic varies between areas, but it is associated with
a decline in the group hunting of large animals in favour of a broader hunter-gatherer way of life,
and the development of more sophisticated and typically smaller lithic tools and weapons than
the heavy-chipped equivalents typical of the Paleolithic. Depending on the region, some use
of pottery and textiles may be found in sites allocated to the Mesolithic, but generally indications
of agriculture are taken as marking transition into the Neolithic. The more permanent settlements
tend to be close to the sea or inland waters offering a good supply of food. Mesolithic societies
are not seen as very complex, and burials are fairly simple; in contrast, grandiose burial
mounds are a mark of the Neolithic.
Terminology
Main article: Three-age system § Stone Age subdivisions
The Mesolithic begins

during the latest Pleistocene, characterized by a progressive rise of temperatures, between the end
of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Neolithic Revolution during the Holocene. Evolution of
temperature in the Post-Glacial period according to Greenland ice cores. [1]
Mesolithic artifacts
The terms "Paleolithic" and "Neolithic" were introduced by John Lubbock in his work Pre-historic
Times in 1865. The additional "Mesolithic" category was added as an intermediate category by
Hodder Westropp in 1866. Westropp's suggestion was immediately controversial. A British
school led by John Evans denied any need for an intermediate: the ages blended together like
the colors of a rainbow, he said. A European school led by Gabriel de Mortillet asserted that
there was a gap between the earlier and later.
Edouard Piette claimed to have filled the gap with his naming of the Azilian Culture. Knut
Stjerna offered an alternative in the "Epipaleolithic", suggesting a final phase of the Paleolithic
rather than an intermediate age in its own right inserted between the Paleolithic and Neolithic.
By the time of Vere Gordon Childe's work, The Dawn of Europe (1947), which affirms the
Mesolithic, sufficient data had been collected to determine that a transitional period between the
Paleolithic and the Neolithic was indeed a useful concept.[2] However, the terms "Mesolithic" and
"Epipalaeolithic" remain in competition, with varying conventions of usage. In the archaeology of
Northern Europe, for example for archaeological sites in Great Britain, Germany, Scandinavia,
Ukraine, and Russia, the term "Mesolithic" is almost always used. In the archaeology of other
areas, the term "Epipaleolithic" may be preferred by most authors, or there may be divergences
between authors over which term to use or what meaning to assign to each. In the New World,
neither term is used (except provisionally in the Arctic).
"Epipaleolithic" is sometimes also used alongside "Mesolithic" for the final end of the Upper
Paleolithic immediately followed by the Mesolithic.[3] As "Mesolithic" suggests an intermediate
period, followed by the Neolithic, some authors prefer the term "Epipaleolithic" for hunter-
gatherer cultures who are not succeeded by agricultural traditions, reserving "Mesolithic" for
cultures who are clearly succeeded by the Neolithic Revolution, such as the Natufian culture.
Other authors use "Mesolithic" as a generic term for hunter-gatherer cultures after the Last
Glacial Maximum, whether they are transitional towards agriculture or not. In addition,
terminology appears to differ between archaeological sub-disciplines, with "Mesolithic" being
widely used in European archaeology, while "Epipalaeolithic" is more common in Near Eastern
archaeology.

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The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, mesos 'middle' + λίθος, lithos 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is

The Mesolithic begins

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