Editing Epipalaeolithic (section)

{{Short description|Period in Levantine history}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox archaeological culture
|name        = Epipalaeolithic
|map         =[[File:Stone Age Stone Mortar & Pestle, Kebaran culture, 22000-18000 BP.jpg|frameless|upright=1.3]]
|mapcaption=Epipalaeolithic stone mortar and pestle, [[Kebaran culture]], [[Epipaleolithic Near East]]. 22000-18000 BP
|mapalt      =
|altnames    =[[Mesolithic]] (for [[Europe]])
|horizon     =
|region      = [[Near East]]
|period      = End of [[Paleolithic|Old Stone Age]]
|dates       = 20,000 to 10,000&nbsp;[[Before Present|BP]]
|typesite    = 
|majorsites  = 
|extra       =
|precededby  = [[Levantine Aurignacian]] ([[Upper Paleolithic]])
|followedby  = [[Neolithic]]
}}
In archaeology, the '''Epipalaeolithic''' or '''Epipaleolithic''' (sometimes '''Epi-paleolithic''' etc.) 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 [[Epipalaeolithic Near East|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.

The Epipalaeolithic has been defined as the "final [[Upper Palaeolithic]] industries occurring at the end of the final [[Last glacial period|glaciation]] which appear to merge technologically into the [[Mesolithic]]".<ref>Bahn, Paul, ''The Penguin Archaeology Guide'', Penguin, London, p. 141. {{ISBN|0140514481}}</ref>   The period is generally dated from {{c.|20,000|lk=yes}}&nbsp;[[Before Present|BP]] to 10,000&nbsp;BP in the Levant,<ref>Simmons, 46</ref> but later in Europe.  If used as a synonym or equivalent for Mesolithic in Europe, it might end at about {{c.|5,000}}&nbsp;BP or even later.

In the Levant, the period may be subdivided into Early, Middle and Late Epipaleolithic, the last also being the [[Natufian culture|Natufian]].<ref name="auto">Simmons, 47–48</ref>  The preceding final Upper Paleolithic period is the [[Kebaran]] or "Upper Paleolithic Stage VI".<ref name="auto"/>

Epipalaeolithic [[hunter-gatherer]]s, generally [[nomad]]ic, made relatively advanced tools from small [[flint]] or [[obsidian]] blades, known as [[microlith]]s, that were [[Hafting|hafted]] in wooden implements.  There are settlements with "flimsy structures", probably not [[Sedentism|permanently occupied]] except at some rich sites, but used and returned to seasonally.<ref>Simmons, 48–49</ref>