Mesolithic

The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, mesos 'middle' + λίθος, lithos 'stone') is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. It marks a time when people were mostly hunter-gatherers, living off the land and water. This period started after the big icy times, called the Last Glacial Maximum, and ended when people began to farm and settle in one place, known as the Neolithic Revolution.

During the Mesolithic, people changed the way they lived. They hunted fewer big animals and instead gathered more varied foods from forests, rivers, and seas. They also made smaller, more clever tools from stone, which helped them in their daily lives. In some places, they even started to make pottery and textiles, though most Mesolithic people still did not farm.

Mesolithic people usually lived near water, where they could find plenty of food. Their homes were not very fancy, and their burials were simple, unlike the big burial mounds that came later in the Neolithic period. The Mesolithic is an important time because it shows how people slowly changed from moving around all the time to settling down and beginning to farm. The time span of the Mesolithic differs in various regions, lasting from about 15,000 to 5,000 years before present in Europe and from 20,000 to 10,000 years before present in the Middle East.

Terminology

Main article: Three-age system § Stone Age subdivisions

Long ago, people came up with ways to describe different times in history when they looked at old tools and artifacts. Two big words, "Paleolithic" and "Neolithic," were first used by a man named John Lubbock in 1865. Then, another person named Hodder Westropp added a middle word, "Mesolithic," in 1866 to help describe a time between these two big periods.

Some experts thought this middle word wasn’t needed, while others supported it. Over time, lots of information was gathered, and many agreed that there was indeed a time between the Paleolithic and Neolithic. Today, people still use both "Mesolithic" and "Epipaleolithic" to talk about this time, but they don’t always agree on which word to use or what it means. In places like Great Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, Ukraine, and Russia, "Mesolithic" is the word most often used. In other areas, like the Near East, "Epipaleolithic" might be used more often.

Europe

Further information: Prehistoric Europe § Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age)

The Mesolithic period in Europe began around 15,000 years ago in the Balkans. In Western Europe, it started about 14,000 years ago in the Franco-Cantabrian region of northern Spain and Southern France. By 11,500 years ago, the Mesolithic had begun in other parts of Europe, lasting until farming was introduced between about 8,500 and 5,500 years ago. Areas affected by climate changes at the end of the last glacial period showed stronger Mesolithic traits, with rich food from marshlands supporting distinctive cultures like the Maglemosian and Azilian.

One key feature of the Mesolithic was the use of small stone tools called microliths, different from the larger tools used earlier. Some places, like Ireland, used larger stone tools instead. Evidence suggests early construction with possible ritual or astronomical meaning, such as alignments at Stonehenge and a possible lunar calendar at Warren Field in Scotland. An ancient piece of chewed gum from southern Denmark showed that Mesolithic people ate hazelnuts and duck.

Art

Compared to earlier and later times, less art from the Mesolithic has survived. Rock art in places like the Iberian Mediterranean Basin shows human figures in scenes of dancing, hunting, and food-gathering. Small engraved items and carvings, like the Elk's Head of Huittinen from Finland, are also found.

Weaving

People used weaving to make shoes and baskets, with some baskets found in Cueva de los Murciélagos in Southern Spain dating back to 9,500 years ago.

Ceramic Mesolithic

In parts of Europe, Siberia, and North Africa, a "ceramic Mesolithic" existed from about 9,000 to 5,850 years ago. This pottery, made with unique methods, appeared first around Lake Baikal in Siberia and spread to areas like Denmark and Northern Germany. The earliest known pottery, found in China, dates to between 20,000 and 19,000 years ago, made by hunter-gatherers before farming began.

Mesolithic outside of Europe

The term "Mesolithic" is not commonly used in the archaeology of China, as the sites usually called Mesolithic are better understood as part of the Early Neolithic. However, in the archaeology of India, the Mesolithic period, lasting from about 12,000 to 8,000 years ago, is still an important idea.

In the archaeology of the Americas, a period called the Archaic or Meso-Indian time follows the Lithic stage and is similar to the Mesolithic. The Saharan rock paintings at Tassili n'Ajjer in central North Africa show lively pictures of daily life from a time when the area was a savanna filled with animals like the hippopotamus, which no longer live there today.