Discover

This time period is part of the Holocene epoch.

Pleistocene :Paleolithic ::Lower Paleolithic ::Middle Paleolithic ::Upper Paleolithic :::Aurignacian culture :::Gravettian culture :::Solutrean culture

Holocene :Mesolithic or Epipaleolithic ::Kebaran culture ::Natufian culture :Neolithic::Halafian culture ::Hassuna culture ::Ubaid culture ::Uruk culture :Chalcolithic::Kurgan culture

The 'Epipaleolithic' or Mesolithic was a period in the development of human technology that precedes the Neolithic period of the Stone Age. It is preferred as an alternative to Mesolithic in areas with limited glacial impact. The period began at the end of the Pleistocene epoch around 10,000 years ago and ended with the introduction of farming around 8,000 years ago.
The Epipalaeolithic is distinguished at least in the Middle East, Anatolia and on Cyprus, that is, in areas where the Neolithic Revolution (neolithisation) occurs early and the post-glacial climatic change is not very marked.
Epipalaeolithic hunter-gatherers made relatively advanced tools made from small flint or obsidian blades, known as microliths that were hafted in wooden implements. They were generally nomadic, although the Natufian culture of the Levant established permanent settlements.