Editing Mesolithic (section)

==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-gatherer 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}}
|
|}