EPIPALEOLITHIC: CHARACTERISTICS, WAY OF LIFE, ART - GEOGRAFÍA - 2025

The Epipaleolithic was one of the periods in which the Prehistory of humanity has been divided. The term, which means "about the Paleolithic" is relatively recent, since it was established at the beginning of the 20th century. Chronologically it overlaps with the Mesolithic and, for this reason, some historiographic currents do not use it in their studies.

One of the factors that marked the change from the Paleolithic to the Epipaleolithic was the climate change that the planet began to suffer. The ice age was giving way to a more temperate climate, which caused great transformations that affected the way of life of human beings.

Conchoid fractionation of flint - Source: Anton (rp) 2004 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, version 1.2

Although the human society of this period was still nomadic and its survival was based on gathering and hunting, during the Epipaleolithic, some of the characteristics that would later manifest openly in the Neolithic began to appear.

Among the changes in the way of life stood out the improvement in the manufacture of tools. In this sense, even some tools appeared that seem destined to work the field. On the other hand, the groups were spending more and more time in temporary settlements, which can be taken as an antecedent of sedentarization.

Epipaleolithic or Mesolithic

The traditional periodization of Prehistory indicated that the stage between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic was called Mesolithic. This classification had been created by Sir John Lubbock, in the late nineteenth century and has been the most used by historians.

However, at the beginning of the 20th century a new term appeared: the Epipaleolithic. The temporal coincidence with the Mesolithic has caused its use to be confusing on many occasions.

Differences

Although there are many discrepancies in the academic world, the Epipaleolithic is generally considered to have developed between 12,000 and 8,500 BP, while the Mesolithic was from that date to 7,200 BP.

Other experts, on the other hand, do not appreciate this chronological difference. For them, the difference between the Epipaleolithic and the Mesolithic is one of concept.

In this way, for these historiographic currents, the epipaleolithic human groups would have maintained the Paleolithic way of life. For their part, Mesolithic societies were the ones that were adopting new lifestyles that, later, would lead to the Neolithic.

characteristics

The beginning of the Epipaleolithic is considered to have occurred when the Pleistocene gave way to the Holocene. This occurred in 12,000 BP, although the date varies greatly depending on the area of ​​the planet.

Environmental changes

Already at the end of the Paleolithic there was a change in the planet's climate. After a long ice age, temperatures were beginning to get warmer, which produced a series of environmental changes that affected humans.

Thus, already at the beginning of the Epipaleolithic, climate change meant that some animals became extinct. They were, in general, large species, such as the mammoth or the woolly rhinoceros, both very frequent prey in the hunting raids of the human groups of the time. In addition, other species such as reindeer or bison moved to colder areas.

The result was that smaller animals took over the place left by this megafauna. They were species such as deer or rabbits, more difficult to capture. However, the human being devised new hunting strategies and adapted to the new situation.

Technology

As has been pointed out, the human being had to adapt to the replacement of some large but slow animal species by others, smaller and faster.

In order to capture the new prey, the men of the time began to manufacture more advanced types of weapons. The new lithic industry made it possible to reduce the size of tools and make them more manageable. In addition, the bone began to gain greater importance as a raw material.

The reduction of the size of the tools, something that began during the Magdalenian period and is called microlithism, not only affected the workability. Likewise, it made it possible to make better use of the raw material used.

On the other hand, in this period utensils for fishing were also invented. Among them, the wicker baskets, rudimentary boats or oars.

Lifestyle

Despite the aforementioned changes, the Epipaleolithic human continued to maintain the Paleolithic way of life. Thus, they were grouped into small nomadic clans that survived by hunting and gathering.

However, the improved climate did bring about some changes. Although they still used the caves for shelter, they also began to do so outdoors, in settlements made up of several huts located in a circle.

Funeral rites

Burials, understood as ritual acts, had already begun during the Paleolithic. However, it was in the Epipaleolithic when this custom became general.

The cemeteries of the time that have been found show how human beings of the time left objects with the deceased. The manner of burial was quite varied, since individual graves covered with stone slabs have been found to others shared by several people.

Similarly, some of the bodies show symptoms of violence, which seems to indicate that there were clashes between different groups.

Art

The art during the Epipaleolithic, called Azilian art, maintains characteristics very similar to that of the Upper Paleolithic, when the Magdalenian was developed.

Changes in artistic manifestations

The main change that took place in the artistic field was the practical abandonment of rock art. Thus, during this period, paintings were stopped on the walls of the caves.

Instead, humans of the time developed a more abstract style of decoration that they applied to pebbles or tiles.

Azilian art

This type of art comes from a site found in France at the end of the 19th century. The remains found show a stylistic continuation with the Magdalenian, although with less use of bone as a material.

In what it does present notable differences is in style, since the Azilian is characterized by its abstract and symbolic representations.

As indicated, the men of the time stopped painting in the caves. Instead, they did so on painted edges, colored with a normally red pigment. Although they sometimes used very fine brushes, the most common was that they used their own fingers to make the drawings.

Azilian figurative art

For a long time no example of figurative Azilian art had been found. This changed relatively recently, when some pieces were found that corresponded to this style.

This art shows two different types. The first is made up of very schematic representations, with drawings of animals made on edges.

For its part, the second type shows figures with exaggerated proportions. Normally, they are also representations of animals, with a very elongated body and disproportionate to the legs.

References

1. Cart, Adrian. What was the Epipaleolithic ?. Obtained from patrimoniointeligente.com
2. Lost on Art. Epipaleolithic / Mesolithic Art. Retrieved from art.lostonsite
3. Rubio Donzé, Javier. What do the terms "Epipaleolithic" and "Mesolithic" mean? Obtained from academiaplay.es
4. Robert McCormick Adams Richard Pittioni Marija Gimbutas Hallam L. Movius Robert J. Braidwood Felix M. Keesing. Stone Age. Retrieved from britannica.com
5. Wikipedia. Epipalaeolithic. Retrieved from wikipedia.org
6. History e. Epipaleolithic and Mesolithic. Retrieved from historiaeweb.com
7. Arthistory. Epipaleolithic-Mesolithic. Obtained from artehistoria.com