Epipaleolithic
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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mesolithic. (Discuss) |
The Epipaleolithic or "peripheral old stone age" is a term used for the hunter-gatherer cultures that existed after the end of the last Ice Age, before the Neolithic.
The term is sometimes confused with Mesolithic, and the two are sometimes used as synonyms. Yet, when a distinction is made, Epipaleolithic is used for those cultures that were not much affected by the ending of the Ice Age (like the Natufian culture of Western Asia[1]) and the term Mesolithic is reserved for Western Europe where the extinction of the Megafauna had a great impact of the paleolithic populations at the end of the Ice Age (like European post-glacial cultures: Azilian, Sauveterrian, Tardenoisian, Maglemosian, etc.).
The term is some times used in the opposite meaning, Alfonso Moure says in this respect:
In the language of Prehistorical Archaeology, the most extended trend is to use the term "Epipaleolithic" for the industrial complexes of the post-glacial hunter-gatherer groups. Inversely, those that are in transitional ways towards artificial production of food are inscribed in the "Mesolithic"[2]
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.
[edit] References
- ^ agriculture, origins of. (2008). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
- ^ A. Moure El Origen del Hombre, 1999. ISBN 84-7679-127-5
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