By the end of the Paleolithic, large parts of Europe were covered with glaciers and were therefore uninhabitable. It is estimated that at the time, only 5,000 to 130,000 people lived scattered across the entire continent. These populations were concentrated in relatively small habitable areas, known as refugia.
After the end of the Ice Age, these groups began to repopulate Europe: this marked the beginning of the Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age. For parts of Europe that were not heavily affected by the Ice Age, this period is also referred to as the Epipaleolithic. The Mesolithic was a transitional period between the end of the last Ice Age and the rise of agriculture.
The Mesolithic in the Balkans began around 13,000 BCE. In Western Europe, the early Mesolithic began around 12,000 BCE with the Azilian culture in the region of northern Spain and southern France. In other parts of Europe, the Mesolithic began around 9500 BCE, at the start of the Holocene. The period ended with the introduction of agriculture, depending on the region, between 6500 and 3500 BCE.
During the Mesolithic, people developed smaller tools and weapons and diversified their hunting and gathering strategies. There was a decline in large-scale group hunting of big game and a shift toward smaller, more versatile technologies.
Western Hunter-Gatherers
The Western Hunter-Gatherers (WHG) were one of the most important Mesolithic populations.
The DNA of the WHG is also referred to as the Villabruna cluster, named after a burial site found in northern Italy dating to around 12,000 BCE, which contained a skeleton with the earliest form of this DNA. The Villabruna cluster is closely connected to the Paleolithic Epigravettian culture from Italy and the Balkans.
The people carrying the Villabruna cluster DNA spread to Italy and the Iberian Peninsula around 17,000 BCE. On the Iberian Peninsula, they mixed with the local population of the Magdalenian culture. These Cro-Magnons or European Early Modern Humans (EEMH) had arrived in the region more than 30,000 years earlier.
After the Ice Age, around 12,000–10,000 BCE, the Villabruna cluster spread to the rest of Europe, where it replaced the DNA of the Magdalenian population.
The WHG likely had dark skin and blue eyes. After the arrival of the early Neolithic farmers (EEF), the skin color of European populations gradually became lighter.
The WHG were gradually displaced by early farmers during the Neolithic, but their genetic influence remained present in some European populations. In some areas, both groups coexisted for a long time. In other regions, such as the Baltic states and the Iberian Peninsula, the two populations merged.
Eastern European Hunter-Gatherers (EHG)
The second major Mesolithic population group were the Eastern European Hunter-Gatherers (EHG). The boundary between the WHG and the EHG ran from the Danube to the western Baltic Sea. The EHG inhabited an area from the Baltic Sea to the Urals and further to the Pontic-Caspian steppe.
Genetically, the EHG were primarily descended from the Ancient North Eurasians (ANE) from Siberia, with a smaller contribution from the WHG. The exact relationship between the ANE and the EHG is still unclear.
In the Neolithic and Early Copper Age, between roughly 5200 and 4000 BCE, the EHG mixed with Caucasian Hunter-Gatherers (CHG), which gave rise to the genetic lineage of the Western Steppe Herders (WSH). From around 3500 BCE, this group spread the Indo-European languages and culture across Europe, India, and Anatolia.
The EHG likely had light skin, brown eyes, and light hair.
The EHG reached Scandinavia from the north, while the WHG had already settled in Scandinavia from the south. The two populations merged to form the Scandinavian Hunter-Gatherers (SHG).
Material Culture
The cultures of the WHG, EHG, and SHG differed from each other but nonetheless shared a number of similarities. They practiced simpler burials. Many settlements were located near seas or lakes, which ensured an abundant food supply.
The climate was characterized by the retreat of the ice sheets and the rapid warming of the climate. In areas that were previously tundra, forests developed — first light pine and birch forests, and later mixed oak forests. This led to changes in the living environment and food supply. The large herds of the Late Paleolithic moved away, shifting the focus to hunting forest animals, such as red deer, roe deer, and wild boars, as well as fishing, bird hunting, and the gathering of small animals. People also gathered fruits and nuts, with hazelnuts making a significant contribution to their diet and possibly becoming the first cultivated plant in Europe.
A distinctive feature of the Mesolithic period is the use of microliths, stone tools smaller than 3 cm that were used in composite tools. This was a clear advancement compared to the larger stone tools of the Paleolithic. In some regions, such as Ireland and the Tyrrhenian Islands, however, a macrolithic technology remained in use. Shafted axes made of flint and daggers with organic handles were also produced, as discovered in northern Russia.
There are indications that people were already building structures with ritual or astronomical significance, such as the earliest structures of Stonehenge and Warren Field in Scotland. Archaeological excavations of settlements, such as those in Denmark and northern Germany, have revealed structures ranging from wind shelters and huts to semi-permanent dwellings with floors made of birch bark and logs. Early houses and pit dwellings have also been found in Northern Europe and Scandinavia, such as the Tingby house in Sweden and the Gressbakken houses in Norway.
Relatively few artworks from the Mesolithic period have been preserved, except for some rock carvings in the Iberian Mediterranean region and the Urals, which depict people in dynamic poses. In addition, some engraved pendants, wooden artifacts, and small animal sculptures have been found, such as the elk head of Huittinen.
In some regions, people used grasses and young twigs to make shoes and baskets. Some of these baskets were decorated with dyes. Several baskets have been found in the Cueva de los Murciélagos in southern Spain, dating from around 8000 BCE. This suggests that advanced weaving techniques were already being applied in the early Mesolithic period, possibly for both practical and aesthetic purposes. Textile clothing had not yet been produced.
In northeastern Europe, Siberia, and parts of southern Europe and North Africa, between 9500 and 7500 BCE, there was a period of "ceramic Mesolithic": hunter-gatherers learned to make pottery. This likely began around Lake Baikal in Siberia, from where it spread to other cultures, such as the Dnieper-Donets culture in Ukraine and Russia, the Narva culture around the Baltic Sea, the Ertebølle culture in Denmark, and the Swifterbant culture in the Low Countries.
The pottery had pointed or knobbed bottoms and flared rims. Due to the similarities in pottery among these peoples, it is likely that they adopted the tradition from each other rather than from the Neolithic farmers they lived alongside. This was therefore more about technological transfer between hunter-gatherers than the spread of agriculture.
In Russia, these cultures are already classified as Neolithic because, in Russian archaeological tradition, the Neolithic is defined by the development of pottery rather than the emergence of agriculture.
From Mesolithic to Neolithic
Around 7000 BCE, the first farmers migrated from Anatolia to the area around the Aegean Sea. This marked the beginning of the Neolithic and brought about a fundamental shift in lifestyle. The farmers brought with them the so-called Neolithic package, consisting of agriculture, animal husbandry, polished stone axes, and pottery.
Although the rise of agriculture defined the beginning of the Neolithic, this transition was not equally rapid or complete everywhere.
Some communities fully adopted agriculture and settled permanently in one area. Others combined elements of agriculture and hunting-gathering. Still, other communities chose to maintain their traditional foraging lifestyle. Such communities, like those in the Blätterhöhle near Hagen, preserved their hunter-gatherer lifestyle for more than 2,000 years after the introduction of agriculture.
This process shows how flexible Mesolithic communities were in adapting to changing environments and socio-economic conditions.
Jewelry
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/glass-beads-for-viking-necklace-pastel-colors.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/glass-beads-for-viking-necklace-25-pieces.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/glass-beads-for-viking-necklace.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/glass-beads-for-viking-necklace-set-of-35-pieces.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/glass-beads-for-viking-necklace-27-pieces.html
Antlers & Skulls
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/lower-jaw-of-roe-deer.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/skull-red-deer-cernunnos.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/deer-skull-with-antlers-and-jaws.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/deer-skull-with-antlers-small.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/set-of-2-antlers.html
Fur & Organic Material
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/fur-collar-tyra.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/fur-collar-sven.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/rabbit-fur-dark.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/rabbit-fur-gray.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/fur-collar-grey.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/fur-collar-sansa.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/fur-collar-lagertha.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/pheasant-feather-10-18-cm.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/goose-feather-black-15-21-cm.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/goose-feathers-set-of-10.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/rabbit-fur-white.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/goose-feather-white-15-21-cm.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/fur-collar-freya.html
Archery
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/marksman-bow-70-178-cm-dark-brown-40-lbs.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/marksman-hand-bow-58-147-cm-dark-brown-40-lbs.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/marksman-bow-re-enactment-larp-58-147-cm-light-bro.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/marksman-bow-re-enactment-larp-58-147-cm-dark-brow.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/marksman-bow-re-enactment-larp-70-178-cm-light-bro.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/marksman-bow-re-enactment-larp-70-178-cm-dark-brow.html
https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/marksman-hand-bow-58-147-cm-light-brown-40-lbs.html