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MESOLITICO [1 record]

Filter results by subject field Alphabetical list of terms

Filter results by subject field

Alphabetical list of terms

Record 1 2011-03-14

English

Subject field(s)
  • Archaeology
DEF

... that part of the Hologene epoch ... which lies between the Palaeolithic of the Pleistocene epoch and the Neolithic and links the two together.

CONT

Mesolithic. The technical name for the Middle Stone Age ... characterized by the beginning of food production and the making of microliths. This age represents a transition and is not readily dated.

OBS

The way of life was still based on hunting animals and gathering plant foods. Mesolithic stone tool assemblages often contain small flint tools called microliths. These were probably put together in groups forming composite tools. For example, a series of backed bladelets could be lined up in a wooden handle to form a knife or, other types of microliths could be used to form the tips and barbs of spear or arrow tips.

OBS

Epipaleolithic: Different sources give this term as synonymous with Mesolithic, others seem to differentiate two concepts as in French.

OBS

Capitalization. Terms that refer to events and periods are often capitalized when they refer to specific events or periods and lower-cased when used in a general sense: the Ice Age; the most recent ice age ...

Key term(s)
  • Epipalæolithic
  • Epi-Palæolithic
  • Epi-Paleolithic

French

Domaine(s)
  • Archéologie
DEF

La période moyenne de l'âge de pierre, entre le paléolithique et le néolithique (~ 12000 à 6000).

CONT

Le terme de Mésolithique doit être réservé aux groupes qui abandonnent peu à peu une économie de chasse et de cueillette et qui s'orientent vers une économie de producteurs. Il est difficile de cerner les limites chronologiques du Mésolithique. Les sociétés mésolithiques réalisent un développement technoéconomique progressif qui doit marquer une transition entre les modes de subsistance paléolithique et néolithique. La phase mésolithique n'a donc pas fini d'être révisée, précisée, voire remise en question.

OBS

Majuscule ou minuscule. En français, l'usage semble être flottant. Dans les dictionnaires généraux (Robert électronique et Larousse encyclopédique), le nom «mésolithique» s'écrit en minuscule. Dans les ouvrages et textes spécialisés, les spécialistes utilisent généralement la majuscule initiale «Mésolithique».

Spanish

Campo(s) temático(s)
  • Arqueología
DEF

Período entre el Paleolítico y el Neolítico.

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