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The Epipalaeolithic (or Epi-Palaeolithic, Epipaleolithic, or Epi-Paleolithic) was a period in the development of
human technology, the last period of the Palaeolithic according to some of the classification schemes used in archaeology.
The Epipalaeolithic is distinguished at least in the Middle East, Anatolia and on Cyprus, that is, in areas where the Neolitisation occurs early and the post-glacial climatic change is not very marked.
It immediately precedes the neolithic period, as an alternative to mesolithic.
Epipalaeolithic hunters and gatherers made relatively advanced tools made from small flint or obsidianObsidian is a type of naturally occurring glass, produced from volcanoes when the right kind of lava cools rapidly, e. by flowing into a body of water. It consists mainly of SiO (silicon dioxide), 70% or more. Obsidian is mineral-like, but not a true mine blades, known as microlithA microlith is a small stone tool, typically knapped of flint or chert. Microliths were either produced from small blades (microblades) or made by snapping normal big blades in a controlled manner, which leaves a very typical piece of waste ( microburin).s that were hafted in wooden implements.
They were hunters and gatherers and generally nomadic, although the Natufian cultureThe Natufian culture existed in the Mediterranean region of the Levant. It was an Epipalaeolithic culture, but unusual in that it established permanent settlements even before the introduction of agriculture. The Natufians are likely to have been the ance of the LevantThe Levant is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in Southwest Asia south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and in the east, the north Arabian Desert and Mesopotamia. The Levant does n established
permanent settlements.
Archaeology
