Talk:Mesolithic

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I find the addition of the LBK confusing, as it is Neolithic, not Mesolithic --Yak 16:41, May 15, 2004 (UTC)

Hi Yak, you are quite correct, my mistake - I was applying western European chronology to central Europe. The link has been removed. adamsan 17:36, 15 May 2004 (UTC)

changed the taxobox. In Central Europe, the Mesolithic (Maglemose, Beuronien, Sauveterien) is not the same as the Epipalaeolithic (Hamburg, Ahrensburg). In some areas, like the Middle East, some authors use the expressions synonymously (Kebaran to Natufian). Should better be explained in page. Also, the dates given are confusing - they obviously refer to the levant, in Central Europe it would be 8.000-5500, in some areas of Scotland (Larnian) about 4000 BC cal. So I would suggest to leave them out of the box altogether. --Yak 07:33, May 28, 2004 (UTC)

Still the same objection: dates of Mesolithic vary widely depending on area: the box pretends to a synchroneity that does not really exist --Yak 22:57, 5 Aug 2004 (UTC)

You also need to add the broad spectrum revolution at least... If you feel up to it try getting into detail, this was a major event in the mesolithic period - Foxman

[edit] Proper use of the terms Mesolithic and Epipaleolithic

AFAIK the term Mesolithic refers:

  1. Strictu sensu: to those transitional cultures between Paleolithic and Neolithic, like Natufian.
  2. Broad sense: to anything late Paleolithic, but this is more specifically described with the term epipaleolithic

Agains what the article claims, epipaleolithic does not refer to transitional cultures like Natufian but rather to non-transitional ones like Azilian or Sauveterrian.

The same confusion (inverted meaning) is present in the article Epipaleolithic. If nobody can present clear evidence that I'm wrong in this, I will proceed to correct both articles radically. --Sugaar (talk) 11:35, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

No replies in a week or so. Yet people keep adding with the same confusion of meaning.
BTW, references: Archaeology Wordsmith: Epipaleolithic, Mesolithic, confirming my perception. --Sugaar (talk) 09:08, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
Edited accordingly. I don't know who's that Mitten but he seems totally confused. Still I have kept his opinion and references.
As I expect a storm after the edition, and someone will surely ask who is that A. Moure and which are his credentials. Here is his C.V. (as per the book, published by a respectable History-oriented editorial company, Historia16): Doctor in History (Universidad Complutense), becary of the Spanish Institute of Prehistory and the Superior council of Scinetific Research (Spain), Profesor of Prehistory in the Complutense University, Professor of Prehistory and Ethnology in the University of Valladolid, Cathedratic of Prehistory in the University of Valladolid, in 1999 he was Cathdratic in the University of Cantabria. He used to be as well member of the XI Comission (Paleolithic Art) of the International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences, advisor of several administraive bodies of arhaeological significance and was also Director of the National Anthropological Museum of Spain.
Anyhow, when the Epipaleolithic/Mesolithic distinction is made almost anywhere (I'm really puzzled at that Mitten's terminology) it's always in this sense: Meolithic = transitional, Epiplaeolithic = not transitional, as seen for instance in the Archaeology Wordsmith reference. True that many authors don't make any distinction and call all Mesolithic equally. --Sugaar (talk) 09:51, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
Thank you for the new version of this page. It finally made it clearer to me what Mesolithic means -- the older version was waaay too confusing. Please correct this phrase: "Additionally, some authors, seem to prefer..". There is no comma between the subject and the predicate...  :^) --Fbs —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.137.130.189 (talk) 05:47, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Problematic use of the term "mesolithic"

The term "mesolithic" should, in my opinion, be used primarily to refer to societies in areas where the megafauna extintion forced new adaptations centered around hunting of small game, birds and fishing (much like Clark does 1962 in The Prehistory of Europe and South-west Asia). I.e from the time of the last ice age to the advent of agriculture in a specific area. In areas that wasn't much effected by the ice age (e.g. in Africa and the Levant), the term Epipaleolithic should be applied. Technologicaly the mesolithic is manifested in the production of microblades and microliths. This is almost exactly how the Encyclopædia Britannica uses the term in their article (Mesolithic Period. (2008). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online) and that could be a good starting point for this article. Note how Ofer Bar-Yosef avoids the term mesolithic and uses the term epi-paleolithic in this article conserning the Natufian culture:

To conclude I would like to leave you with this quote fronm Britannica (referensed as above)

"There is no direct counterpart to the Mesolithic Period outside northwestern Europe, and the term is no longer used to reflect a hypothetical worldwide sequence of human cultural evolution." MiCkE 13:28, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Paleoloithic / mesolithic terminology in africa

an anon editor to the Klasies River Caves stated that
- Paleolithic not used for Africa, MSA is catch all for time from ca. 200,000-30,000 years ago
- Paleolithic is a term that does not apply to Africa in general. Mesolithic is just wrong,
If this is this true, What terminology should be used?
Autodidactyl (talk) 18:55, 28 May 2008 (UTC)