Editing Mesolithic

{{short description|Prehistoric period, second part of the Stone Age}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox archaeological culture
|name        = Mesolithic
|map         = [[File:Hunter gatherer's camp at Irish National Heritage Park - geograph.org.uk - 1252699.jpg|frameless|alt=|upright=1.5]]
|mapcaption  = Reconstruction of a "temporary" Mesolithic house in Ireland; waterside sites offered good food resources.
|mapalt      =
|altnames    = [[Epipaleolithic]] (for the [[Near East]])
|horizon     =
|region      = [[Europe]]
|period      = Middle of [[Stone Age]]
|dates       = 20,000 to 10,000&nbsp;[[Before Present|BP]] (Middle East)<br />15,000–5,000&nbsp;[[Before Present|BP]] (Europe)
|typesite    = 
|majorsites  = 
|extra       =
|precededby  = [[Upper Paleolithic]]
|followedby  = [[Neolithic]]
}}
The '''Mesolithic''' ([[Ancient Greek language|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 [[Epipaleolithic Near East|the Levant]] and [[Epipaleolithic Caucasus|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&nbsp;[[Before Present|BP]]; in the Middle East (the [[Epipalaeolithic Near East]]) roughly 20,000 to 10,000&nbsp;[[Before Present|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 [[History of clothing and textiles#Prehistoric development|textiles]] may be found in sites allocated to the Mesolithic, but generally indications of agriculture are taken as marking [[Neolithic Revolution|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 [[Tumulus|burial mounds]] are a mark of the Neolithic.

== Terminology ==
{{main|Three-age system#Stone Age subdivisions}}
[[File:Evolution of temperature in the Post-Glacial period according to Greenland ice cores.jpg|thumb|upright=2|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]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zalloua |first1=Pierre A. |last2=Matisoo-Smith |first2=Elizabeth |title=Mapping Post-Glacial expansions: The Peopling of the middle east |journal=Scientific Reports |date=6 January 2017 |volume=7 |pages=40338 |doi=10.1038/srep40338 |pmid=28059138 |language=en |issn=2045-2322|pmc=5216412 |bibcode=2017NatSR...740338P }}</ref>]]
[[File:OpgravingStevoort.jpg|thumb|Mesolithic artifacts]]

The terms "Paleolithic" and "Neolithic" were introduced by [[John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury|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 (archaeologist)|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.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Linder|first1=F.|title=Social differentiering i mesolitiska jägar-samlarsamhällen|date=1997|publisher=Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia, Uppsala universitet|location=Uppsala.}}</ref> 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.<ref>"final Upper Paleolithic industries occurring at the end of the [[Last glacial period|final glaciation]] which appear to merge technologically into the Mesolithic" {{cite book|editor1-last=Bahn|editor1-first=Paul|title=The Penguin archaeology guide|date=2002|publisher=Penguin Books|location=London|isbn=978-0-14-051448-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/penguinarchaeolo0000unse}}</ref> 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==
{{further|Prehistoric Europe#Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age)}}
[[File:Большой шигирский идол.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Shigir Idol]], from the east of the [[Ural mountains]].]]
[[File:Sépulture de Teviec Global.jpg|right|thumb|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 [[Neolithic Europe|introduction]] of farming, depending on the region between {{circa|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.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Conneller|first1=Chantal|last2=Bayliss|first2=Alex|last3=Milner|first3=Nicky|last4=Taylor|first4=Barry|title=The Resettlement of the British Landscape: Towards a chronology of Early Mesolithic lithic assemblage types|journal=Internet Archaeology|date=2016|volume=42|issue=42|doi=10.11141/ia.42.12|doi-access=free|hdl=10034/621138|hdl-access=free}}</ref> 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 tool]]s ([[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.<ref>{{cite thesis|last1=Driscoll|first1=Killian|title=The early prehistory in the west of Ireland: Investigations into the social archaeology of the Mesolithic, west of the Shannon, Ireland.|date=2006|url=http://lithicsireland.ie/mlitt_mesolithic_west_ireland_chap_3.html|publisher=National University of Ireland, Galway}}</ref> 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 [[Astronomy|astronomical]] significance, including [[Stonehenge]], with a short row of large [[post hole]]s 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 phase]]s. Both are dated to before {{circa|9,000 BP}} (the 8th millennium BC).<ref>{{cite web | url =http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue34/gaffney_index.html| title =Time and a Place: A luni-solar 'time-reckoner' from 8th millennium BC Scotland|work=[[Internet Archaeology]] | author=V. Gaffney|access-date = 16 July 2013|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Jensen|first1=Theis Z. T.|last2=Niemann|first2=Jonas|last3=Iversen|first3=Katrine Højholt|last4=Fotakis|first4=Anna K.|last5=Gopalakrishnan|first5=Shyam|last6=Vågene|first6=Åshild J.|last7=Pedersen|first7=Mikkel Winther|last8=Sinding|first8=Mikkel-Holger S.|last9=Ellegaard|first9=Martin R.|last10=Allentoft|first10=Morten E.|last11=Lanigan|first11=Liam T.|date=2019-12-17|title=A 5700 year-old human genome and oral microbiome from chewed birch pitch|journal=Nature Communications|language=en|volume=10|issue=1|pages=5520|doi=10.1038/s41467-019-13549-9 |pmid=31848342 |pmc=6917805 |bibcode=2019NatCo..10.5520J |issn=2041-1723|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-12-19|title=5,700-Year-Old Lola, Her Genome Sequenced from Gum, Joins Other Named Forebears|url=https://dnascience.plos.org/2019/12/19/5700-year-old-lola-her-genome-sequenced-from-gum-joins-other-named-forebears/|access-date=2021-01-05|website=DNA Science|language=en-US}}</ref> Mesolithic people influenced Europe's forests by bringing favored plants like hazel with them.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Paschall|first=Max|date=2020-07-22|title=The Lost Forest Gardens of Europe|url=https://www.shelterwoodforestfarm.com/blog/the-lost-forest-gardens-of-europe|access-date=2021-01-05|website=Shelterwood Forest Farm|language=en-US}}</ref>

As the "[[Neolithic]] package" (including farming, herding, polished stone axes, [[Neolithic long house|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.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Price|editor1-first=Douglas|title=Europe's first farmers|date=2000|publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0521665728}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Furholt">{{cite journal |last1=Furholt |first1=Martin |title=Mobility and Social Change: Understanding the European Neolithic Period after the Archaeogenetic Revolution |journal=Journal of Archaeological Research |date=2021 |volume=10.1007/s10814-020-09153-x |issue=4 |pages=481–535 |doi=10.1007/s10814-020-09153-x |doi-access=free |hdl=10852/85345 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> 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;<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bollongino|first1=R.|last2=Nehlich|first2=O.|last3=Richards|first3=M. P.|last4=Orschiedt|first4=J.|last5=Thomas|first5=M. G.|last6=Sell|first6=C.|last7=Fajkosova|first7=Z.|last8=Powell|first8=A.|last9=Burger|first9=J.|title=2000 Years of Parallel Societies in Stone Age Central Europe|journal=Science|date=2013|volume=342|issue=6157|pages=479–81|doi=10.1126/science.1245049|pmid=24114781|url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1591/e7a03439c5d75aa20eb76b7ffe572ae19435.pdf|bibcode=2013Sci...342..479B |s2cid=206552000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505015156/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1591/e7a03439c5d75aa20eb76b7ffe572ae19435.pdf|archive-date=5 May 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 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-gatherers in farming communities was made possible by their socially open character towards new members.<ref name="Furholt"/> 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".<ref>Bailey, Geoff and Spikins, Penny, ''Mesolithic Europe'', p. 4, 2008, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|0521855039|978-0521855037}}</ref>

===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.<ref>Sandars, Nancy K., ''Prehistoric Art in Europe'', Penguin (Pelican, now Yale, History of Art), pp. 87–96, 1968 (nb 1st edn.)</ref> A few small engraved [[pendant]]s with suspension holes and simple engraved designs are known, some from northern Europe in [[amber]], and one from [[Star Carr]] in Britain in [[shale]].<ref>[https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2016/research/mesolithic-shale-pendant/ "11,000 year old pendant is earliest known Mesolithic art in Britain"], University of York</ref> 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 have stood over five metres tall.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.livescience.com/62404-shigir-idol-age-and-new-face.html |title=This Eerie, Human-Like Figure Is Twice As Old As Egypt's Pyramids |last=Geggel |first=Laura |work=[[Live Science]] |date=25 April 2018 |access-date=28 April 2018}}</ref> The [[Ain Sakhri figurine]] from Palestine is a Natufian carving in [[calcite]].

A total of 33 [[Star Carr Frontlets|antler frontlets]] have been discovered at Star Carr.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Nicky Milner |author2=Chantal Conneller |author3=Barry Taylor |title=STAR CARR Volume 1: a persistent place |publisher=White Rose University Press |date=2018}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Technological aspects of two Mesolithic red deer ‘antler frontlets’ from the German Rhineland |author1=Martin Street |author2=Markus Wil |editor1=N. Ashton |editor2=C. Harris |title=No Stone Unturned. Papers in Honour of Roger Jacobi |pages=209–219 |date=2015}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Lovers 9000BC british museum.jpg|The ''[[Ain Sakhri lovers]]''; {{Circa|9000 BCE}} (late [[Epipalaeolithic Near East]]); [[calcite]]; height: 10.2&nbsp;cm, width: 6.3&nbsp;cm; from Ain Sakhri (near [[Bethlehem]], [[Palestine]]); [[British Museum]] (London)
File:Star Carr Engraved Pendant.gif|Animated image showing the sequence of engravings on a pendant excavated from the Mesolithic archaeological site of [[Star Carr]] in 2015<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Morgan | first1 = C. | last2 = Scholma-Mason | first2 = N. | year = 2017 | title = Animated GIFs as Expressive Visual Narratives and Expository Devices in Archaeology | journal = Internet Archaeology | issue = 44| doi = 10.11141/ia.44.11 }}</ref>
File:064 Pintures de la cova dels Moros, exposició al Museu de Gavà.JPG|[[Roca dels Moros]], Spain, ''The Dance of Cogul'', tracing by [[Henri Breuil]]
</gallery>

=== 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.<ref>''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</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Martínez-Sevilla |first1=Francisco |last2=Herrero-Otal |first2=Maria |last3=Martín-Seijo |first3=María |last4=Santana |first4=Jonathan |last5=Lozano Rodríguez |first5=José A. |last6=Maicas Ramos |first6=Ruth |last7=Cubas |first7=Miriam |last8=Homs |first8=Anna |last9=Martínez Sánchez |first9=Rafael M. |last10=Bertin |first10=Ingrid |last11=Barroso Bermejo |first11=Rosa |last12=Bueno Ramírez |first12=Primitiva |last13=de Balbín Behrmann |first13=Rodrigo |last14=Palomo Pérez |first14=Antoni |last15=Álvarez-Valero |first15=Antonio M. |date=2023-09-27 |title=The earliest basketry in southern Europe: Hunter-gatherer and farmer plant-based technology in Cueva de los Murciélagos (Albuñol) |journal=Science Advances |language=en |volume=9 |issue=39 |pages=eadi3055 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.adi3055 |issn=2375-2548 |pmc=10530072 |pmid=37756397|bibcode=2023SciA....9I3055M }}</ref>

===Ceramic Mesolithic===
{{See also|Subneolithic}}
In North-Eastern [[Europe]], [[Siberia]], and certain southern European and [[North Africa]]n sites, a "ceramic Mesolithic" can be distinguished between {{circa|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.<ref>De Roevers, pp. 162–63</ref>{{citation needed|date=July 2017}} 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,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Anthony|first1=D.W.|editor1-last=Yanko-Hombach|editor1-first=V.|editor2-last=Gilbert|editor2-first=A.A.|editor3-last=Panin|editor3-first=N.|editor4-last=Dolukhanov|editor4-first=P.M.|title=The Black Sea Flood Question: changes in coastline, climate and human settlement|date=2007|isbn=978-9402404654|pages=245–370|chapter=Pontic-Caspian Mesolithic and Early Neolithic societies at the time of the Black Sea Flood: a small audience and small effects|publisher=Springer }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Anthony|first1=David W.|title=The horse, the wheel, and language : how Bronze-Age riders from the Eurasian steppes shaped the modern world|date=2010|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, NJ|isbn=978-0691148182|title-link=The Horse, The Wheel and Language}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gronenborn|first1=Detlef|title=Beyond the models: Neolithisation in Central Europe|journal=Proceedings of the British Academy|date=2007|volume=144|pages=73–98}}</ref><ref>Detlef Gronenborn, Beyond the models: Neolithisation in Central Europe, ''Proceedings of the British Academy'', vol. 144 (2007), pp. 73–98 (87).</ref>

[[File:National Museum of China 2014.02.01 14-43-38.jpg|thumb|Pottery with re-construction repairs found in [[Xianrendong]] cave, dating to 20,000–10,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Huan |first1=Anthony |title=Ancient China: Neolithic |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/anthonyhuan/32661009357/in/album-72157706522993001/ |website=National Museum of China |date=13 April 2019}}</ref>]]

A 2012 publication in the ''[[Science (journal)|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]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/06/pottery-found-in-from-china-cave-confirmed-as-worlds-oldest/1#.UDiyGtZlRv0|title=Pottery found in China cave confirmed as world's oldest|author=Stanglin, Douglas|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|date=29 June 2012}}</ref><ref name=Xianrendong>{{cite journal|title=Early Pottery at 20,000 Years Ago in Xianrendong Cave, China|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|date=29 June 2012|volume=336|issue=6089|pages=1696–1700|doi=10.1126/science.1218643|bibcode = 2012Sci...336.1696W|pmid=22745428|last1=Wu|first1=X|last2=Zhang|first2=C|last3=Goldberg|first3=P|last4=Cohen|first4=D|last5=Pan|first5=Y|last6=Arpin|first6=T|last7=Bar-Yosef|first7=O|s2cid=37666548 }}</ref> The carbon-14 datation was established by carefully dating surrounding sediments.<ref name=Xianrendong/><ref name="Science">{{cite journal |last1=Bar-Yosef |first1=Ofer |last2=Arpin |first2=Trina |last3=Pan |first3=Yan |last4=Cohen |first4=David |last5=Goldberg |first5=Paul |last6=Zhang |first6=Chi |last7=Wu |first7=Xiaohong |title=Early Pottery at 20,000 Years Ago in Xianrendong Cave, China |journal=Science |date=29 June 2012 |volume=336 |issue=6089 |pages=1696–1700 |doi=10.1126/science.1218643 |pmid=22745428 |language=en |issn=0036-8075|bibcode=2012Sci...336.1696W |s2cid=37666548 }}</ref> Many of the pottery fragments had scorch marks, suggesting that the pottery was used for cooking.<ref name="Science"/> 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.<ref name="Science"/>

===Cultures===
{{Human history and prehistory}}
{{Mesolithic|233}}
[[File:Comb Ceramic Culture.jpg|thumb|[[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.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Geographical range
! Periodization
! Culture
! Temporal range
! Notable sites
|-
|Southeastern Europe (Greece, Aegean)
| [[Balkan Mesolithic]]
|
| {{sort|15|15,000–7,000 BP}}
| [[Franchthi Cave|Franchthi]], [[Theopetra cave|Theopetra]]<ref>Sarah Gibbens, [https://web.archive.org/web/20180120032446/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/archaeology-agvi-greek-stoneage-facial-reconstruction/ "Face of 9,000-Year-Old Teenager Reconstructed"], ''National Geographic'', 19 January 2018.</ref>
|-
| [[Southeastern Europe]] ([[Romania]]/[[Serbia]])
|  [[Balkan Mesolithic]]
| [[Iron Gates culture]]
| {{sort|13|13,000–5,000 BP}}
| [[Lepenski Vir]]<ref>{{cite book | first=Dragoslav | last=Srejovic | title=Europe's First Monumental Sculpture: New Discoveries at Lepenski Vir | year=1972 | publisher=Thames and Hudson | isbn=978-0-500-39009-2}}
</ref>
|-
| [[Western Europe]]
| Early Mesolithic
| [[Azilian]]
| {{sort|14|14,000–10,000 BP}}
|
|-
| Northern Europe ([[Norway]])
|
| [[Fosna-Hensbacka culture]]
| {{sort|12|12,000–10,500 BP}}
|
|-
| Northern Europe ([[Norway]])
| Early Mesolithic
| [[Komsa culture]]
| {{sort|12|12,000–10,000 BP}}
|
|-
|  Central Asia ([[Ural (region)|Middle Urals]])
|
|
| 12,000–5,000 BP
|[[Shigir Idol]], [[Vtoraya Beregovaya]]<ref>
Central Asia does not enter the Neolithic, but transitions from the Mesolithic to the [[Chalcolithic]] in the fourth millennium BC ([https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/02/nc.html 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.</ref>
|-
| Northeastern Europe ([[Estonia]], [[Latvia]] and northwestern [[Russia]])
| Middle Mesolithic
| [[Kunda culture]]
| {{sort|10.5|10,500–7,000 BP}}
| [[Linnuse, Lääne-Viru County|Lammasmägi]], [[Pulli settlement]]
|-
| [[Northern Europe]]
|
| [[Maglemosian culture]]
| {{sort|11|11,000–8,000 BP}}
|
|-
| [[Western Europe|Western]] and [[Central Europe]]
|
| [[Sauveterrian|Sauveterrian culture]]
| {{sort|10.5|10,500–8,500 BP}}
|
|-
| Western Europe (Great Britain)
| [[British Mesolithic]]
|
|  {{sort|11|11,000–6000 BP}}
| [[Star Carr]], [[Howick house]], [[Gough's Cave]], [[Cramond]], [[Aveline's Hole]]
|-
| Western Europe (Ireland)
| [[Irish Mesolithic]]
|
|  {{sort|11|11,000–5,500 BP}}
| [[Mount Sandel Mesolithic site|Mount Sandel]]
|-
| Western Europe ([[Belgium]] and [[France]])
|
| [[Tardenoisian|Tardenoisian culture]]
| {{sort|10|10,000–5,000 BP}}
|
|-
| Central and Eastern Europe ([[Belarus]], [[Lithuania]] and [[Poland]])
| Late Mesolithic
| [[Neman culture]]
| {{sort|09|9,000–5,000 BP}}
|
|-
| Northern Europe ([[Scandinavia]])
|
| [[Nøstvet and Lihult cultures]]
|  {{sort|08.2|8,200–5,200 BP}}
|
|-
| Northern Europe ([[Scandinavia]])
|
| [[Kongemose culture]]
|  {{sort|08|8,000–7,200 BP}}
|
|-
| Northern Europe ([[Scandinavia]])
| Late Mesolithic
| [[Ertebølle culture|Ertebølle]]
|  {{sort|07.3|7,300–5,900 BP}}
|
|-
| Western Europe (Netherlands)
| Late Mesolithic
| [[Swifterbant culture|Swifterbant]]
| {{sort|07.3|7,300–5,400 BP}}
|
|-
|Western Europe (Portugal)
| Late Mesolithic
|
|{{sort|07.3|7,600–5,500 BP}}
|
|}

==Mesolithic outside of Europe==
[[File:Stone Age Stone Mortar & Pestle, Kebaran culture, 22000-18000 BP.jpg|thumb|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.<ref>Zhang, Chi, [https://www.dlib.si/stream/URN:NBN:SI:doc-ON9U3D5U/3841cd9c-4969-4198-8dea-efd7f3b2bf7e/PDF ''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</ref>

In the [[archaeology of India]], the Mesolithic, dated roughly between 12,000 and 8,000 BP, remains a concept in use.<ref>Sailendra Nath Sen, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&pg=PA23 ''Ancient Indian History and Civilization''], p. 23, 1999, New Age International, {{ISBN|8122411983|978-8122411980}}</ref>

In the [[archaeology of the Americas]], an [[Archaic period (North America)|Archaic]] or Meso-Indian period, following the [[Lithic stage]], somewhat equates to the Mesolithic.

The [[Saharan rock art|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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tassili n'Ajjer |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/179/ |publisher=[[UNESCO]]}}</ref>
<!--
unrelated, just a case for {{distinguish}}
In the archaeology of [[sub-Saharan Africa]],  Lower Paleolithic is replaced by "[[Early Stone Age]]", Middle Paleolithic is replaced by "[[Middle Stone Age]]" and Upper Paleolithic by "[[Later Stone Age]]" (beginning some 50,000 years ago) according to the terminology introduced  by John Hilary Goodman and [[Clarence van Riet Lowe]] of South Africa in the early 20th century. Therefore, care must be taken in translating "Mesolithic" as "Middle Stone Age", as the latter term has an unrelated technical meaning in the context of [[African archaeology]].
-->

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Geographical range
! Periodization
! Culture
! Temporal range
! Notable sites
|-
| North Africa ([[Morocco]])
| Late Upper Paleolithic to Early Mesolithic
| [[Iberomaurusian|Iberomaurusian culture]]
| {{sort|24|24,000–10,000 BP}}
|-
| [[North Africa]]
|
| [[Capsian culture]]
| {{sort|12|12,000–8,000 BP}}
|
|-
|[[East Africa]]
|
|Kenya Mesolithic
|8,200–7,400 BP
|Gamble's cave<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Stone-Age/Africa|title=Africa-Paleolithic|website=Britannica|access-date=28 November 2018}}</ref>
|-
|  Central Asia ([[Ural (region)|Middle Urals]])
|
|
| 12,000–5,000 BP
|[[Shigir Idol]], [[Vtoraya Beregovaya]]<ref>
Central Asia does not enter the Neolithic, but transitions from the Mesolithic to the [[Chalcolithic]] in the fourth millennium BC ([https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/02/nc.html 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.</ref>
|-
| East Asia ([[Japan]])
| [[Jōmon period|Jōmon cultures]]
|
| {{sort|16|16,000–2,350 BP}}
|
|-
| East Asia ([[Korea]])
| [[Jeulmun pottery period]]
|
| {{sort|10|10,000–3,500 BP}}
|
|-
|South Asia (India)
|[[South Asian Stone Age]]
|
|{{sort|12|12,000–4,000 BP}}<ref>The term "Mesolithic" is not a useful term for the periodization of the South Asian Stone Age, as certain [[Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes|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, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&pg=PA23 ''Ancient Indian History and Civilization''], 1999: "The Mesolithic period roughly ranges between 10,000 and 6,000 B.C."  (p. 23).</ref>
|[[Bhimbetka rock shelters]], [[Chopani Mando]], [[Lekhahia]]
|-
|}

==See also==
* [[Caucasus hunter-gatherer]]
* [[History of archery#Prehistory]]
* [[List of Stone Age art]]
* [[List of Mesolithic settlements]]
* [[Mammoth extinction]]
* [[Eastern Hunter-Gatherer]]
* [[Scandinavian Hunter-Gatherer]]
* [[Western Hunter-Gatherer]]
* [[Anatolian hunter-gatherers]]
* [[Younger Dryas]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Mesolithic}}

{{Prehistoric technology|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Mesolithic| ]]
[[Category:Holocene]]
[[Category:1860s neologisms]]