Editing Mesolithic (section)

===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>

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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]]
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