| The Stone Age |
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↑ before Homo (Pliocene) |
| ↓ Chalcolithic |
The Epipaleolithic Age was a period in the development of human technology marked by more advanced stone blades and other tools than the earlier Paleolithic age, although still before the development of agriculture in the Neolithic age. The exact dates depend on what area and group of humans you're talking about, and the level of technology (Industry) they had, but the Epipaleolithic age usually starts about 10,000 to 20,000 years ago, and usually ends between 10,000 and 2,000 years ago.
"Epipaleolithic" is a term used for the "final Upper Palaeolithic industries occurring at the end of the final glaciation which appear to merge technologically into the Mesolithic".[1]
The term is usually confused with Mesolithic, and the two are sometimes used as synonyms. Yet, when a distinction is made, Epipaleolithic is used for those cultures that were not much affected by the ending of the Ice Age (like the Natufian and Khiamian cultures of Western Asia[2]) and the term Mesolithic is reserved for Western Europe where the extinction of the Megafauna had a great impact on the Paleolithic populations at the end of the Ice Age (like European post-glacial cultures: Azilian, Sauveterrian, Tardenoisian, Maglemosian, etc.).
The term is sometimes used in the opposite meaning, 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".[3]
Epipalaeolithic hunter-gatherers made relatively advanced tools from small flint or obsidian blades, known as microliths that were hafted in wooden implements. They were generally nomadic.