Mesolithic Europe

A pan-European overview of the archaeology of hunter-gatherer societies, written by experts in each region.

This book offers regional syntheses on the archaeology of the hunter-gatherer societies that inhabited Europe between 10,000 and 5,000 years ago. Written by experts in each region and with a diversity of theoretical perspectives the authors reveal new data, which demonstrates that this was a period of radical change and innovation.This book focuses on the archaeology of the hunter-gatherer societies that inhabited Europe in the millennia between the last Ice Age and the spread of agriculture, between ten thousand and five thousand years ago. Traditionally viewed as a period of cultural stagnation, new data now demonstrate that this was a period of radical change and innovation. This was the period that witnessed the colonisation of extensive new territory at high latitudes and high altitudes following postglacial climatic change, the development of seafaring, and the synthesis of the technological, economic, and social capabilities that underpinned the later development of agricultural and urban societies. Providing a pan-European overview, Mesolithic Europe includes regional syntheses written by experts in each region as well as a diversity of theoretical perspectives.