, from the east of the
Ural Mountains. , 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
introduction of farming, depending on the region between 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. 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 tools (
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. 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
astronomical significance, including
Stonehenge, with a short row of large
post holes 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 phases. Both are dated to before (the 8th millennium BC). 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. Mesolithic people influenced Europe's forests by bringing favored plants like hazel with them. As the "
Neolithic package" (including farming, herding, polished stone axes,
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. 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. 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; 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.
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. A few small engraved
pendants with suspension holes and simple engraved designs are known, some from northern Europe in
amber, and one from
Star Carr in Britain in
shale. 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. The
Ain Sakhri figurine from Palestine is a Natufian carving in
calcite. A total of 33
antler frontlets have been discovered at Star Carr. 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. File:Lovers 9000BC british museum.jpg|The
Ain Sakhri lovers; (late
Epipalaeolithic Near East);
calcite; height: 10.2 cm, width: 6.3 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 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 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.
Ceramic Mesolithic In North-Eastern
Europe,
Siberia, and certain southern European and
North African sites, a "ceramic Mesolithic" can be distinguished between 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. 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, 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. cave, dating to 20,000–10,000 years ago. A 2012 publication in the journal
Science 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. The carbon-14 datation was established by carefully dating surrounding sediments. Many of the pottery fragments had scorch marks, suggesting that the pottery was used for cooking. 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.
Cultures 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. ==Mesolithic outside of Europe==