| This time period is part of the Holocene epoch. |
| Pleistocene Holocene
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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mesolithic. () |
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 are sometimes used as synonyms. Yet, when a distinction is made, Mesolithic is used for those cultures that present a trend towards the agricultural practices of Neolithic (like the Natufian culture of Western Asia) and Epipaleolithic is meant to imply that no trend towards agriculture exists[1] (like European post-glacial cultures: Azilian, Sauveterrian, Tardenoisian, Maglemosian, etc.) 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.
