View source for Epipalaeolithic

{{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>

== Term usage ==
[[File:Climate and Post-Glacial expansion in the Near East.jpg|thumb|upright=2|The Epipaleolithic corresponds to the first period of progressive warming after the [[Last Glacial Maximum]]. Evolution of temperatures 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 Southwest Asia |journal=Scientific Reports |date=6 January 2017 |volume=7 |article-number=40338 |doi=10.1038/srep40338 |pmid=28059138 |language=en |issn=2045-2322|pmc=5216412 |bibcode=2017NatSR...740338P }}</ref>]]

In describing the period before the start of the Neolithic, "Epipaleolithic" is typically used for cultures in regions that were far from the glaciers of the [[Last Glacial Maximum|Ice Age]], so that the retreat of the glaciers made a less dramatic change to conditions. This was the case in the [[Levant]].<ref>Simmons, 46–48; [http://search.eb.com/eb/article-10760 agriculture, origins of]. (2008). [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online.</ref> Conversely, the term "Mesolithic" is most likely to be used for Western Europe where climatic change and the extinction of the [[megafauna]] had a great impact of the Paleolithic populations at the end of the Ice Age, creating post-glacial cultures such as the [[Azilian]], [[Sauveterrian]], [[Tardenoisian]], and [[Maglemosian]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia | url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/195896/history-of-Europe/58234/Mesolithic-adaptations | title=History of Europe | encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] online | access-date=8 April 2013 | quote=The Scandinavian Ice Sheet itself started to retreat northward about 8300&nbsp;[[bce]], and the period between then and the origins of agriculture (at various times in the 7th to 4th [[millennia]], depending on location) was one of great environmental and cultural change. It is termed the [[Mesolithic Period]] ([[Middle Stone Age]]) to emphasize its transitional importance, but the alternative term Epipaleolithic, used mostly in [[eastern Europe]], stresses the continuity with processes begun earlier.}}</ref>  In the past, French archaeologists had a general tendency to prefer the term "Epipaleolithic" to "Mesolithic", even for Western Europe.  Where "Epipaleolithic" is still used for Europe, it is generally for areas close to the [[Mediterranean]], as with the [[Azilian]] industry.

"Epipalaeolithic" stresses the continuity with the Upper Paleolithic.  Alfonso Moure says in this respect:
{{Quote|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".<ref>A. Moure ''El Origen del Hombre'', 1999. {{ISBN|8476791275}}</ref>}}

In Europe, the Epipalaeolithic may be regarded as a period preceding the Early Mesolithic,<ref>"...there are no sites defining the transition from the Epipalaeolithic Azilian to the Early Mesolithic" – p. 249, [[Homer L. Thomas|Thomas, Homer L.]], ''A Handbook of Archaeology: Cultures and Sites: North Africa, Egypt, Southwest Asia, Mediterranean, Northwest Europe, Northern Europe, ...'', Volume 1, 1996, Paul Astroms Forlag, {{ISBN|9170811229|978-9170811227}}</ref> or as locally constituting at least a part of it.  Other authors treat the Epipalaeolithic as part of the Late Palaeolithic;<ref>referring to the Azilian:  Jones, Emily Lena, ''In Search of the Broad Spectrum Revolution in Paleolithic Southwest Europe'', pp. 5–6, 2015, Springer, {{ISBN|3319223518|978-3319223513}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=RQS0CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 google books]</ref> the culture in southern [[Portugal]] between about 10,500 to 8,500 years ago is "variously labelled as 'Terminal Magdalenian' and 'Epipalaeolithic{{'"}}.<ref>Straus, Lawrence Guy, p. 310 in Bailey and Spikins</ref> The different usages often reflect the degree of innovation and "economic intensification in the direction of domestication, [[sedentism]] or environmental modification" seen in the culture. If the Palaeolithic way of life continues with only adaptation to reflect changes in the types of wild food available, the culture may be called Epipalaeolithic.<ref>''Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory'' (2nd Edition), eds. Eric Delson, Ian Tattersall, et al., p. 236. 2004, Routledge, {{ISBN|1135582289|978-1135582289}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6GFGsswTIO8C&pg=PA236 google books] (quoted); Bailey and Spikins, 4</ref> One writer, talking of Azilian [[microlith]]s in [[Vasco-Cantabria]] talks of "some exceptions that seem to herald the coming of 'true' Mesolithic technologies a few centuries later".<ref>Straus, Lawrence Guy, in Bailey and Spikins, 312</ref> The paleoanthropologist [[Trenton Holliday]] refers to a short Epipaleolithic phase in some areas of Europe after the end of the [[Younger Dryas]] 11,700 years ago, when in some areas of Europe most stone tools were small versions of Upper Paleolithic ones, before the introduction of Mesolithic technology around 10,000 years ago.{{sfn|Holliday|2021| pp= 39, 222-224}}

==History of the term==
{{Main|Three-age system#The Epipaleolithic and Protoneolithic of Stjerna and Obermaier}}
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=500|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| image1   = Superimposed structures within Trench E showing Neolithic 2A (10,600-9,300 cal BP) rectilinear structure atop Epipalaeolithic 1A (13,300-12,800 cal BP) pit dwellings in the foreground. Abu Hureyra, Syria.jpg
| image2   = Reconstruction of phase 1A (13,300-12,800 cal BP) pit dwellings showing a person seated on the open bench area in the foreground. Abu Hureyra, Syria.jpg
| footer=Remain of [[Epipalaeolithic Near East|Epipalaeolithic]] 1A (13,300-12,800 cal BP) pit dwellings in the foreground, and reconstruction of phase 1A pit dwellings of [[Abu Hureyra]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Alexia |last2=Oechsner |first2=Amy |last3=Rowley-Conwy |first3=Peter |last4=Moore |first4=Andrew M. T. |title=Epipalaeolithic animal tending to Neolithic herding at Abu Hureyra, Syria (12,800–7,800 calBP): Deciphering dung spherulites |journal=PLOS ONE |date=14 September 2022 |volume=17 |issue=9 |article-number=e0272947 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0272947 |pmid=36103475 |pmc=9473395 |bibcode=2022PLoSO..1772947S |doi-access=free |language=en |issn=1932-6203}}</ref>
}}
[[File:Lovers 9000BC british museum.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Ain Sakhri lovers]], Ain Sakhri near [[Bethleem]], [[Israel]]. [[Kebaran culture]], Late [[Epipaleolithic Near East]]]]
The concept of the "Epipalaeolithic" arrived several decades after the main components of the [[three-age system]], the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic. It was first proposed in 1910 by the Swedish archaeologist, [[Knut Stjerna]], his initial example being a culture or sub-culture in Scandinavian archaeology,<ref>{{harvnb|Stjerna|1910|p=2}}</ref> that would not be often called Epipalaeolithic today. This left stone-lined pit graves containing implements of bone, such as harpoon and javelin heads. Stjerna observed that they "persisted during the recent Paleolithic period and also during the  Protoneolithic". Here he had used a new term, "Protoneolithic", which was according to him to be applied to the Danish [[Ertebølle culture|kitchen-middens]].<ref>{{harvnb|Stjerna|1910|p=12}}: "... a persisté pendant la période paléolithique récente et même pendant la période protonéolithique."</ref>  Stjerna also said that the eastern culture "is attached to the Paleolithic civilization" (''"se trouve rattachée à la civilisation paléolithique"''). However, it was not intermediary and of its intermediates he said "we cannot discuss them here" (''"nous ne pouvons pas examiner ici''"). This "attached" and non-transitional culture he chose to call the Epipaleolithic, defining it as follows:<ref>{{harvnb|Stjerna|1910|p=12}}</ref>
<blockquote>With Epipaleolithic I mean the period during the early days that followed the age of the reindeer, the one that retained Paleolithic customs. This period has two stages in Scandinavia, that of Maglemose and that of Kunda. (''Par époque épipaléolithique j'entends la période qui, pendant les premiers temps qui ont suivi l'âge du Renne, conserve les coutumes paléolithiques. Cette période présente deux étapes en Scandinavie, celle de Maglemose et de Kunda.'')</blockquote>
{{Human history and prehistory}}

Stjerna made no mention of the Mesolithic, and it is unclear if he intended his terms to replace that.  His new terms were soon adopted by the German [[Hugo Obermaier]], who in 1916 used them in ''El Hombre fósil'' (translated into English in 1924) as part of an attack on the concept of the Mesolithic, which he insisted was a period of "transition" and an "interim" rather than "transformation":<ref>{{cite book | first=Hugo | last=Obermaier | title=Fossil man in Spain | url=https://archive.org/details/fossilmaninspain00ober | url-access=registration | year=1924 | location=New Haven | publisher=Yale University Press | page=[https://archive.org/details/fossilmaninspain00ober/page/322 322]}}</ref>

<blockquote>But in my opinion this term is not justified, as it would be if these phases presented a natural evolutionary development – a progressive transformation from Paleolithic to Neolithic. In reality, the final phase of the [[Capsian]], the [[Tardenoisian]], the [[Azilian]] and the northern [[Maglemosian|Maglemose]] industries are the posthumous descendants of the Palaeolithic&nbsp;...</blockquote>

This early history of the term introduced the ambiguity and degree of confusion which has continued to surround its use, at least as relates to the archaeology of Europe.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* Bailey, Geoff and Spikins, Penny, ''Mesolithic Europe'', 2008, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|0521855039|978-0521855037}}
*{{cite book|last=Holliday |first=Trenton  |title=Cro-Magnon: The Story of the Last Ice Age People of Europe |publisher= Columbia University Press|location =New York |year=2021|isbn=978-0-231-20497-2}}
* Simmons, Alan H., ''The Neolithic Revolution in the Near East: Transforming the Human Landscape'', 2007, University of Arizona Press, {{ISBN|978-0816529667}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BLZbLtmEJ68C&pg=PA47 google books]
* {{cite journal | first=Knut | last=Stjerna | author-link=Knut Stjerna | title=Les groupes de civilisation en Scandinavie à l'époque des sépultures à galerie | language=fr | year=1910 | journal=L'Anthropologie | volume=XXI | pages=1–34}}

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

[[Category:Epipalaeolithic| ]]
[[Category:Holocene]]
[[Category:Upper Paleolithic]]
[[Category:Paleolithic Europe]]
[[Category:Mesolithic]]