Mesolithic

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Mesolithic
Hunter gatherer's camp at Irish National Heritage Park - geograph.org.uk - 1252699.jpg
Reconstruction of a "temporary" Mesolithic house in Ireland; waterside sites offered good food resources.
Alternative names Epipaleolithic (for the Near East)
Geographical range Europe
PeriodMiddle of Stone Age
Dates20,000 to 10,000  BP (Middle East)
15,000–5,000  BP (Europe)
Preceded by Upper Paleolithic
Followed by Neolithic

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.

Contents

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

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. Evolution of temperature in the Post-Glacial period according to Greenland ice cores.jpg
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.
Mesolithic artifacts OpgravingStevoort.jpg
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.

Europe

The Shigir Idol, from the east of the Ural mountains. Bol'shoi shigirskii idol.jpg
The Shigir Idol, from the east of the Ural mountains.
Two skeletons of women aged between 25 and 35 years, dated between 6740 and 5680 BP, both of whom died a violent death. Found at Teviec, France in 1938. Sepulture de Teviec Global.jpg
Two skeletons of women aged between 25 and 35 years, dated between 6740 and 5680 BP, both of whom died a violent death. Found at Téviec, France in 1938.

The Balkan Mesolithic begins around 15,000 years ago. In Western Europe, the Early Mesolithic, or Azilian, begins about 14,000 years ago, in the Franco-Cantabrian region of northern Spain and Southern France. In other parts of Europe, the Mesolithic begins by 11,500 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), and it ends with the introduction of farming, depending on the region between c. 8,500 and 5,500 years ago. Regions that experienced greater environmental effects as the last glacial period ended have a much more apparent Mesolithic era, lasting millennia. [4] In northern Europe, for example, societies were able to live well on rich food supplies from the marshlands created by the warmer climate. Such conditions produced distinctive human behaviors that are preserved in the material record, such as the Maglemosian and Azilian cultures. Such conditions also delayed the coming of the Neolithic until some 5,500 BP in northern Europe.

The type of stone toolkit remains one of the most diagnostic features: the Mesolithic used a microlithic technology – composite devices manufactured with Mode V chipped stone tools (microliths), while the Paleolithic had utilized Modes I–IV. In some areas, however, such as Ireland, parts of Portugal, the Isle of Man and the Tyrrhenian Islands, a macrolithic technology was used in the Mesolithic. [5] In the Neolithic, the microlithic technology was replaced by a macrolithic technology, with an increased use of polished stone tools such as stone axes.

There is some evidence for the beginning of construction at sites with a ritual or astronomical significance, including Stonehenge, with a short row of large post holes aligned east–west, and a possible "lunar calendar" at Warren Field in Scotland, with pits of post holes of varying sizes, thought to reflect the lunar phases. Both are dated to before c. 9,000 BP (the 8th millennium BC). [6]

An ancient chewed gum made from the pitch of birch bark revealed that a woman enjoyed a meal of hazelnuts and duck about 5,700 years ago in southern Denmark. [7] [8] Mesolithic people influenced Europe's forests by bringing favored plants like hazel with them. [9]

As the "Neolithic package" (including farming, herding, polished stone axes, timber longhouses and pottery) spread into Europe, the Mesolithic way of life was marginalized and eventually disappeared. Mesolithic adaptations such as sedentism, population size and use of plant foods are cited as evidence of the transition to agriculture. [10] Other Mesolithic communities rejected the Neolithic package likely as a result of ideological reluctance, different worldviews and an active rejection of the sedentary-farming lifestyle. [11] In one sample from the Blätterhöhle in Hagen, it seems that the descendants of Mesolithic people maintained a foraging lifestyle for more than 2000 years after the arrival of farming societies in the area; [12] such societies may be called "Subneolithic". For hunter-gatherer communities, long-term close contact and integration in existing farming communities facilitated the adoption of a farming lifestyle. The integration of these hunter-gatherer in farming communities was made possible by their socially open character towards new members. [11] In north-Eastern Europe, the hunting and fishing lifestyle continued into the Medieval period in regions less suited to agriculture, and in Scandinavia no Mesolithic period may be accepted, with the locally preferred "Older Stone Age" moving into the "Younger Stone Age". [13]

Art

Compared to the preceding Upper Paleolithic and the following Neolithic, there is rather less surviving art from the Mesolithic. The Rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin, which probably spreads across from the Upper Paleolithic, is a widespread phenomenon, much less well known than the cave-paintings of the Upper Paleolithic, with which it makes an interesting contrast. The sites are now mostly cliff faces in the open air, and the subjects are now mostly human rather than animal, with large groups of small figures; there are 45 figures at Roca dels Moros. Clothing is shown, and scenes of dancing, fighting, hunting and food-gathering. The figures are much smaller than the animals of Paleolithic art, and depicted much more schematically, though often in energetic poses. [14] A few small engraved pendants with suspension holes and simple engraved designs are known, some from northern Europe in amber, and one from Star Carr in Britain in shale. [15] The Elk's Head of Huittinen is a rare Mesolithic animal carving in soapstone from Finland.

The rock art in the Urals appears to show similar changes after the Paleolithic, and the wooden Shigir Idol is a rare survival of what may well have been a very common material for sculpture. It is a plank of larch carved with geometric motifs, but topped with a human head. Now in fragments, it would apparently have been over 5 metres tall when made. [16] The Ain Sakhri figurine from Palestine is a Natufian carving in calcite.

A total of 33 antler frontlets have been discovered at Star Carr. [17] These are red deer skulls modified to be worn by humans. Modified frontlets have also been discovered at Bedburg-Königshoven, Hohen Viecheln, Plau, and Berlin-Biesdorf. [18]

Weaving

Weaving techniques were deployed to create shoes and baskets, the latter being of fine construction and decorated with dyes. Examples have been found in Cueva de los Murciélagos in Southern Spain that in 2023 were dated to 9,500 years ago. [20] [21]

Ceramic Mesolithic

In North-Eastern Europe, Siberia, and certain southern European and North African sites, a "ceramic Mesolithic" can be distinguished between c. 9,000 to 5,850 BP. Russian archaeologists prefer to describe such pottery-making cultures as Neolithic, even though farming is absent. This pottery-making Mesolithic culture can be found peripheral to the sedentary Neolithic cultures. It created a distinctive type of pottery, with point or knob base and flared rims, manufactured by methods not used by the Neolithic farmers. Though each area of Mesolithic ceramic developed an individual style, common features suggest a single point of origin. [22] [ citation needed ] The earliest manifestation of this type of pottery may be in the region around Lake Baikal in Siberia. It appears in the Yelshanka culture on the Volga in Russia 9,000 years ago, [23] [24] and from there spread via the Dnieper-Donets culture to the Narva culture of the Eastern Baltic. Spreading westward along the coastline it is found in the Ertebølle culture of Denmark and Ellerbek of Northern Germany, and the related Swifterbant culture of the Low Countries. [25] [26]

Pottery with re-construction repairs found in Xianrendong cave, dating to 20,000-10,000 years ago. National Museum of China 2014.02.01 14-43-38.jpg
Pottery with re-construction repairs found in Xianrendong cave, dating to 20,000–10,000 years ago.

A 2012 publication in the Science journal, announced that the earliest pottery yet known anywhere in the world was found in Xianrendong cave in China, dating by radiocarbon to between 20,000 and 19,000 years before present, at the end of the Last Glacial Period. [28] [29] The carbon 14 datation was established by carefully dating surrounding sediments. [29] [30] Many of the pottery fragments had scorch marks, suggesting that the pottery was used for cooking. [30] These early pottery containers were made well before the invention of agriculture (dated to 10,000 to 8,000 BC), by mobile foragers who hunted and gathered their food during the Late Glacial Maximum. [30]

Cultures

Comb Ceramic culture existed from around 4200 BC to around 2000 BC. The bearers of the culture are thought to have still mostly followed the Mesolithic hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Comb Ceramic Culture.jpg
Comb Ceramic culture existed from around 4200 BC to around 2000 BC. The bearers of the culture are thought to have still mostly followed the Mesolithic hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
Geographical rangePeriodizationCultureTemporal rangeNotable sites
Southeastern Europe (Greece, Aegean) Balkan Mesolithic 15,000–7,000 BP Franchthi, Theopetra [31]
Southeastern Europe (Romania/Serbia) Balkan Mesolithic Iron Gates culture 13,000–5,000 BP Lepenski Vir [32]
Western Europe Early Mesolithic Azilian 14,000–10,000 BP
Northern Europe (Norway) Fosna-Hensbacka culture 12,000–10,500 BP
Northern Europe (Norway)Early Mesolithic Komsa culture 12,000–10,000 BP
Central Asia (Middle Urals)12,000–5,000 BP Shigir Idol, Vtoraya Beregovaya [33]
Northeastern Europe (Estonia, Latvia and northwestern Russia)Middle Mesolithic Kunda culture 10,500–7,000 BP Lammasmägi, Pulli settlement
Northern Europe Maglemosian culture 11,000–8,000 BP
Western and Central Europe Sauveterrian culture 10,500–8,500 BP
Western Europe (Great Britain) British Mesolithic 11,000–6000 BP Star Carr, Howick house, Gough's Cave, Cramond, Aveline's Hole
Western Europe (Ireland) Irish Mesolithic 11,000–5,500 BP Mount Sandel
Western Europe (Belgium and France) Tardenoisian culture 10,000–5,000 BP
Central and Eastern Europe (Belarus, Lithuania and Poland)Late Mesolithic Neman culture 9,000–5,000 BP
Northern Europe (Scandinavia) Nøstvet and Lihult cultures 8,200–5,200 BP
Northern Europe (Scandinavia) Kongemose culture 8,000–7,200 BP
Northern Europe (Scandinavia)Late Mesolithic Ertebølle 7,300–5,900 BP
Western Europe (Netherlands)Late Mesolithic Swifterbant 7,300–5,400 BP
Western Europe (Portugal)Late Mesolithic7,600–5,500 BP

"Mesolithic" outside of The old world

Mesolithic stone mortar and pestle, Kebaran culture, Epipaleolithic Near East. 22,000-18,000 BP Stone Age Stone Mortar & Pestle, Kebaran culture, 22000-18000 BP.jpg
Mesolithic stone mortar and pestle, Kebaran culture, Epipaleolithic Near East. 22,000–18,000 BP

While Paleolithic and Neolithic have been found useful terms and concepts in the archaeology of China, and can be mostly regarded as happily naturalized, Mesolithic was introduced later, mostly after 1945, and does not appear to be a necessary or useful term in the context of China. Chinese sites that have been regarded as Mesolithic are better considered as "Early Neolithic". [34]

In the archaeology of India, the Mesolithic, dated roughly between 12,000 and 8,000 BP, remains a concept in use. [35]

In the archaeology of the Americas, an Archaic or Meso-Indian period, following the Lithic stage, somewhat equates to the Mesolithic.

The Saharan rock paintings found at Tassili n'Ajjer in central Sahara, and at other locations depict vivid scenes of everyday life in central North Africa. Some of these paintings were executed by a hunting people who lived in a savanna region teeming with a water-dependent species like the hippopotamus, animals that no longer exist in the now-desert area. [36]

Geographical rangePeriodizationCultureTemporal rangeNotable sites
North Africa (Morocco)Late Upper Paleolithic to Early Mesolithic Iberomaurusian culture 24,000–10,000 BP
North Africa Capsian culture 12,000–8,000 BP
East Africa Kenya Mesolithic8,200–7,400 BPGamble's cave [37]
Central Asia (Middle Urals)12,000–5,000 BP Shigir Idol, Vtoraya Beregovaya [38]
East Asia (Japan) Jōmon cultures 16,000–2,350 BP
East Asia (Korea) Jeulmun pottery period 10,000–3,500 BP
South Asia (India) South Asian Stone Age 12,000–4,000 BP [39] Bhimbetka rock shelters, Lekhahia

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epipalaeolithic Near East</span>

The Epipalaeolithic Near East designates the Epipalaeolithic in the prehistory of the Near East. It is the period after the Upper Palaeolithic and before the Neolithic, between approximately 20,000 and 10,000 years Before Present (BP). The people of the Epipalaeolithic were nomadic hunter-gatherers who generally lived in small, seasonal camps rather than permanent villages. They made sophisticated stone tools using microliths—small, finely-produced blades that were hafted in wooden implements. These are the primary artifacts by which archaeologists recognise and classify Epipalaeolithic sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neolithic</span> Archaeological period, last part of the Stone Age

The Neolithic or New Stone Age is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Europe, Asia and Africa. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts of the world. This "Neolithic package" included the introduction of farming, domestication of animals, and change from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to one of settlement. The term 'Neolithic' was coined by Sir John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleolithic</span> Prehistoric period, first part of the Stone Age

The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic, also called the Old Stone Age, is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehistoric technology. It extends from the earliest known use of stone tools by hominins, c. 3.3 million years ago, to the end of the Pleistocene, c. 11,650 cal BP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natufian culture</span> Archaeological culture of the Levant, dating to around 15,000 to 11,500 years ago

Natufian culture is a Late Epipaleolithic archaeological culture of the Neolithic prehistoric Levant in Western Asia, dating to around 15,000 to 11,500 years ago. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentary or semi-sedentary population even before the introduction of agriculture. Natufian communities may be the ancestors of the builders of the first Neolithic settlements of the region, which may have been the earliest in the world. Some evidence suggests deliberate cultivation of cereals, specifically rye, by the Natufian culture at Tell Abu Hureyra, the site of earliest evidence of agriculture in the world. The world's oldest known evidence of the production of bread-like foodstuff has been found at Shubayqa 1, a 14,400-year-old site in Jordan's northeastern desert, 4,000 years before the emergence of agriculture in Southwest Asia. In addition, the oldest known evidence of possible beer-brewing, dating to approximately 13,000 BP, was found in Raqefet Cave on Mount Carmel, although the beer-related residues may simply be a result of a spontaneous fermentation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epipalaeolithic</span> Period in Levantine history

In archaeology, the Epipalaeolithic or Epipaleolithic is a period occurring between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic during the Stone Age. Mesolithic also falls between these two periods, and the two are sometimes confused or used as synonyms. More often, they are distinct, referring to approximately the same period of time in different geographic areas. Epipaleolithic always includes this period in the Levant and, often, the rest of the Near East. It sometimes includes parts of Southeast Europe, where Mesolithic is much more commonly used. Mesolithic very rarely includes the Levant or the Near East; in Europe, Epipalaeolithic is used, though not very often, to refer to the early Mesolithic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Paleolithic</span> Subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age

The Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago, according to some theories coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity in early modern humans, until the advent of the Neolithic Revolution and agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pre-Pottery Neolithic B</span> Neolithic culture in upper Mesopotamia and the Levant c. 8800–6500 BC

Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) is part of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, a Neolithic culture centered in upper Mesopotamia and the Levant, dating to c. 10,800 – c. 8,500 years ago, that is, 8800–6500 BC. It was typed by British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon during her archaeological excavations at Jericho in the West Bank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xianren Cave</span> Cave and archaeological site in China

The Xianren Cave, together with the nearby Diaotonghuan rock shelter, is an archaeological site in Dayuan Township (大源乡), Wannian County in the Jiangxi province, China and a location of historically important discoveries of prehistoric pottery shards that bears evidence of early rice cultivation. The cave's name refers to the legendary Chinese enlightened people, the Xian "immortals". The cave is 7 m (23.0 ft) high, 11 m (36.1 ft) wide, and 14 m (45.9 ft) deep.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kebaran culture</span> Archaeological culture in the Eastern Mediterranean - Palestine

The Kebaran culture, also known as the 'Early Near East Epipalaeolithic', is an archaeological culture of the Eastern Mediterranean dating to c. 23,000 to 15,000 Before Present (BP). Its type site is Kebara Cave, south of Haifa. The Kebaran was produced by a highly mobile nomadic population, composed of hunters and gatherers in the Levant and Sinai areas who used microlithic tools.

Prehistoric France is the period in the human occupation of the geographical area covered by present-day France which extended through prehistory and ended in the Iron Age with the Roman conquest, when the territory enters the domain of written history.

Paleolithic Europe, or Old Stone Age Europe, encompasses the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age in Europe from the arrival of the first archaic humans, about 1.4 million years ago until the beginning of the Mesolithic around 10,000 years ago. This period thus covers over 99% of the total human presence on the European continent. The early arrival and disappearance of Homo erectus and Homo heidelbergensis, the appearance, complete evolution and eventual demise of Homo neanderthalensis and the immigration and successful settlement of Homo sapiens all have taken place during the European Paleolithic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basque prehistory</span> Ancient history of the Basque people

The greater Basque Country comprises the Autonomous Communities of the Basque Country and Navarre in Spain and the Northern Basque Country in France. The Prehistory of the region begins with the arrival of the first hominin settlers during the Paleolithic and lasts until the conquest and colonisation of Hispania by the Romans after the Second Punic War, who introduced comprehensive administration, writing and regular recordings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prehistory of Southeastern Europe</span> Prehistorical period of Southeastern Europe

The prehistory of Southeastern Europe, defined roughly as the territory of the wider Southeast Europe covers the period from the Upper Paleolithic, beginning with the presence of Homo sapiens in the area some 44,000 years ago, until the appearance of the first written records in Classical Antiquity, in Greece. First Greek language is Linear A and follows Linear B, which is a syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of the Greek language. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries. The oldest Mycenaean writing dates to about 1400 BC. It is descended from the older Linear A, an undeciphered earlier script used for writing the Minoan language, as is the later Cypriot syllabary, which also recorded Greek. Linear B, found mainly in the palace archives at Knossos, Kydonia, Pylos, Thebes and Mycenae, but disappeared with the fall of the Mycenean civilisation during the Late Bronze Age collapse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prehistory</span> Span of time before recorded history

Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins c. 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of symbols, marks, and images appears very early among humans, but the earliest known writing systems appeared c. 5,200 years ago. It took thousands of years for writing systems to be widely adopted, with writing having spread to almost all cultures by the 19th century. The end of prehistory therefore came at different times in different places, and the term is less often used in discussing societies where prehistory ended relatively recently.

Neolithic Greece is an archaeological term used to refer to the Neolithic phase of Greek history beginning with the spread of farming to Greece in 7000–6500 BC, and ending around 3200 BC. During this period, many developments occurred such as the establishment and expansion of a mixed farming and stock-rearing economy, architectural innovations, as well as elaborate art and tool manufacturing. Neolithic Greece is part of the Prehistory of Southeastern Europe.

Prehistoric technology is technology that predates recorded history. History is the study of the past using written records. Anything prior to the first written accounts of history is prehistoric, including earlier technologies. About 2.5 million years before writing was developed, technology began with the earliest hominids who used stone tools, which they first used to hunt food, and later to cook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of prehistoric technology</span> Overview of and topical guide to prehistoric technology

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to prehistoric technology.

Trialetian is the name for an Upper Paleolithic-Epipaleolithic stone tool industry from the South Caucasus. It is tentatively dated to the period between 16,000 / 13,000 BP and 8,000 BP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western hunter-gatherer</span> Archaeogenetic name for an ancestral genetic component

In archaeogenetics, western hunter-gatherer is a distinct ancestral component of modern Europeans, representing descent from a population of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers who scattered over western, southern and central Europe, from the British Isles in the west to the Carpathians in the east, following the retreat of the ice sheet of the Last Glacial Maximum. It is closely associated and sometimes considered synonymous with the concept of the Villabruna cluster, named after Ripari Villabruna cave in Italy, known from the terminal Pleistocene of Europe, which is largely ancestral to later WHG populations.

Stone Age in Azerbaijan is divided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods. It was studied in Karabakh, Gazakh, Lerik, Gobustan, and Nakhchivan. Stone materials belonging to the Stone Age were found by Mammadali Huseynov in the Shorsu gorge located near the village of Gyrag Kasaman in Qazakh region. According to his research, people have first settled in the territory of Azerbaijan 2 million years ago. The Stone Age era involved two different human species: Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens.

References

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  20. ↑ Hunter-Gatherers Were Making Baskets 9,500 Years Ago, Researchers Say by Rachel Chaundler, The New York Times 30 September 2023 Science, updated 3 October 2023
  21. ↑ Martínez-Sevilla, Francisco; Herrero-Otal, Maria; Martín-Seijo, María; Santana, Jonathan; Lozano Rodríguez, José A.; Maicas Ramos, Ruth; Cubas, Miriam; Homs, Anna; Martínez Sánchez, Rafael M.; Bertin, Ingrid; Barroso Bermejo, Rosa; Bueno Ramírez, Primitiva; de Balbín Behrmann, Rodrigo; Palomo Pérez, Antoni; Álvarez-Valero, Antonio M. (27 September 2023). "The earliest basketry in southern Europe: Hunter-gatherer and farmer plant-based technology in Cueva de los Murciélagos (Albuñol)". Science Advances. 9 (39): eadi3055. Bibcode:2023SciA....9I3055M. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adi3055. ISSN   2375-2548. PMC   10530072 . PMID   37756397.
  22. ↑ De Roevers, pp. 162–63
  23. ↑ Anthony, D.W. (2007). "Pontic-Caspian Mesolithic and Early Neolithic societies at the time of the Black Sea Flood: a small audience and small effects". In Yanko-Hombach, V.; Gilbert, A.A.; Panin, N.; Dolukhanov, P.M. (eds.). The Black Sea Flood Question: changes in coastline, climate and human settlement. Springer. pp. 245–370. ISBN   978-9402404654.
  24. ↑ Anthony, David W. (2010). The horse, the wheel, and language : how Bronze-Age riders from the Eurasian steppes shaped the modern world. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN   978-0691148182.
  25. ↑ Gronenborn, Detlef (2007). "Beyond the models: Neolithisation in Central Europe". Proceedings of the British Academy. 144: 73–98.
  26. ↑ Detlef Gronenborn, Beyond the models: Neolithisation in Central Europe, Proceedings of the British Academy, vol. 144 (2007), pp. 73–98 (87).
  27. ↑ Huan, Anthony (13 April 2019). "Ancient China: Neolithic". National Museum of China.
  28. ↑ Stanglin, Douglas (29 June 2012). "Pottery found in China cave confirmed as world's oldest". USA Today .
  29. 1 2 Wu, X; Zhang, C; Goldberg, P; Cohen, D; Pan, Y; Arpin, T; Bar-Yosef, O (29 June 2012). "Early Pottery at 20,000 Years Ago in Xianrendong Cave, China". Science . 336 (6089): 1696–1700. Bibcode:2012Sci...336.1696W. doi:10.1126/science.1218643. PMID   22745428. S2CID   37666548.
  30. 1 2 3 Bar-Yosef, Ofer; Arpin, Trina; Pan, Yan; Cohen, David; Goldberg, Paul; Zhang, Chi; Wu, Xiaohong (29 June 2012). "Early Pottery at 20,000 Years Ago in Xianrendong Cave, China". Science. 336 (6089): 1696–1700. Bibcode:2012Sci...336.1696W. doi:10.1126/science.1218643. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   22745428. S2CID   37666548.
  31. ↑ Sarah Gibbens, "Face of 9,000-Year-Old Teenager Reconstructed", National Geographic, 19 January 2018.
  32. ↑ Srejovic, Dragoslav (1972). Europe's First Monumental Sculpture: New Discoveries at Lepenski Vir. Thames and Hudson. ISBN   978-0-500-39009-2.
  33. ↑ Central Asia does not enter the Neolithic, but transitions from the Mesolithic to the Chalcolithic in the fourth millennium BC (metmuseum.org). 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.
  34. ↑ Zhang, Chi, The Mesolithic and the Neolithic in China (PDF), 1999, Documenta Praehistorica. Poročilo o raziskovanju paleolitika, neolotika in eneolitika v Sloveniji. Neolitske študije = Neolithic studies, [Zv.] 26 (1999), pp. 1–13 dLib
  35. ↑ Sailendra Nath Sen, Ancient Indian History and Civilization, p. 23, 1999, New Age International, ISBN   8122411983 , 978-8122411980
  36. ↑ "Tassili n'Ajjer". UNESCO.
  37. ↑ "Africa-Paleolithic". Britannica. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  38. ↑ Central Asia does not enter the Neolithic, but transitions from the Mesolithic to the Chalcolithic in the fourth millennium BC (metmuseum.org). 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.
  39. ↑ 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, 1999: "The Mesolithic period roughly ranges between 10,000 and 6,000 B.C." (p. 23).
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