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The Azilian is a name given by archaeologists to an industry
Archaeological industry

An archaeological industry is the name given to a consistent range of Assemblage s connected with a single product , such as the Langdale axe industry....
 of the Epipaleolithic
Epipaleolithic

The Epipaleolithic is a term used for the "final Upper Palaeolithic industries occurring at the end of the final last Ice Age which appear to merge technologically into the Mesolithic"....
 in northern Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
 and southern France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
.

It probably dates to the period of the Allerød Oscillation
Allerød Oscillation

The Aller?d period was a warm and moist global interstadial that occurred at the end of the last glacial period. The Aller?d oscillation raised temperatures , before they declined again in the succeeding Younger Dryas period, which was followed by the present interglacial period....
 around 10,000 years ago (10,000 BC uncalibrated) and followed the Magdalenian
Magdalenian

The Magdalenian, also spelled Magdal?nien, refers to one of the later archaeological cultures of the Upper Paleolithic in western Europe. It is named after the type site of La Madeleine, a rock shelter located in the V?z?re valley, commune of Tursac, in the Dordogne department of France....
 culture. Archaeologists think the Azilian represents the tail end of the Magdalenian as the warming climate brought about changes in human behaviour in the area.






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The Azilian is a name given by archaeologists to an industry
Archaeological industry

An archaeological industry is the name given to a consistent range of Assemblage s connected with a single product , such as the Langdale axe industry....
 of the Epipaleolithic
Epipaleolithic

The Epipaleolithic is a term used for the "final Upper Palaeolithic industries occurring at the end of the final last Ice Age which appear to merge technologically into the Mesolithic"....
 in northern Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
 and southern France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
.

It probably dates to the period of the Allerød Oscillation
Allerød Oscillation

The Aller?d period was a warm and moist global interstadial that occurred at the end of the last glacial period. The Aller?d oscillation raised temperatures , before they declined again in the succeeding Younger Dryas period, which was followed by the present interglacial period....
 around 10,000 years ago (10,000 BC uncalibrated) and followed the Magdalenian
Magdalenian

The Magdalenian, also spelled Magdal?nien, refers to one of the later archaeological cultures of the Upper Paleolithic in western Europe. It is named after the type site of La Madeleine, a rock shelter located in the V?z?re valley, commune of Tursac, in the Dordogne department of France....
 culture. Archaeologists think the Azilian represents the tail end of the Magdalenian as the warming climate brought about changes in human behaviour in the area. The effects of melting ice sheets would have diminished the food supply and probably impoverished the previously well-fed Magdalenian manufacturers. As a result, Azilian tools and art were cruder and less expansive than their Ice Age
Ice age

The general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers....
 predecessors - or simply different.

Diagnostic artefact
Cultural artifact

A cultural artifact is a human-made wiktionary:object which gives information about the culture of its creator and users. The artifact may change over time in what it represents, how it appears and how and why it is used as the culture changes over time....
s from the culture include Azilian points (microliths with rounded retouched backs), crude flat bone harpoon
Harpoon

A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument used in fishing to catch fish or other large marine mammals such as whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal, allowing the fishermen to use a rope or chain attached to the butt of the projectile to catch the animal....
s and pebbles with abstract decoration. The latter were first found in the River Arise at the type-site for the culture, Mas d'Azil in the French Pyrenees
Pyrenees

The Pyrenees are a mountain range in southwest Europe that form a natural border between France and Spain. They separate the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of continental Europe, and extend for about from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean Sea ....
 . 145 are known from the Swiss site of Birsmatten-Eremitage. Compared with the late Magdelanian, the number of microlith
Microlith

A microlith is a small Rock tool, typically knapped of flint or chert, usually about three centimetres long or less; They are typically one centimetre long and half a centimetre wide when finished....
s increases.

The Azilian co-existed with similar early Mesolithic European cultures such as the Tjongerian of Northern and the Swiderian
Swiderian culture

Swiderian culture, also published in English literature as Sviderian and Swederian, is the name of Final Palaeolithic cultural complexes in Poland and the surrounding areas....
 of North-Eastern Europe, the Sauveterrian
Sauveterrian

The Sauveterrian is the name for an archaeological culture of the European Epipaleolithic which flourished around 7000-8000 years BC. The name is derived from the type site of Sauveterre le L?mance in the French of Lot et Garonne....
 and, its successor, the Tardenoisian
Tardenoisian

The Tardenoisian is an archaeological culture of the Epipaleolithic period from north-western France and Belgium. Similar cultures are known further east in central Europe and west across Spain....
 in parts of France, Belgium and Switzerland, the Maglemosian in Denmark and Eastern Britain.

In its late phase, it experienced strong influences from neighbouring Tardenoisian, reflected in the presence of many geometrical microlith
Microlith

A microlith is a small Rock tool, typically knapped of flint or chert, usually about three centimetres long or less; They are typically one centimetre long and half a centimetre wide when finished....
s persisted until the arrival of the Neolithic
Neolithic

The Neolithic period was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 Before the Christian Era in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age....
  , that in some western areas was only adopted very late, almost in the Chalcolithic era.

In Southern Iberia


A culture very similar to Azilian spread as well into Mediterranean Spain and southern Portugal. As it lacks of bone industry, it's named distinctively as Iberian microlaminar microlithism. It was replaced by the so-called geometrical microlithism, related to Tardenoisian culture.

Sources



See also

  • Epipaleolithic
    Epipaleolithic

    The Epipaleolithic is a term used for the "final Upper Palaeolithic industries occurring at the end of the final last Ice Age which appear to merge technologically into the Mesolithic"....
  • Mesolithic
    Mesolithic

    The Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age was a period in the development of human technology in between the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age and the Neolithic or New Stone Age....
  • Tardenoisian
    Tardenoisian

    The Tardenoisian is an archaeological culture of the Epipaleolithic period from north-western France and Belgium. Similar cultures are known further east in central Europe and west across Spain....
  • Sauveterrian
    Sauveterrian

    The Sauveterrian is the name for an archaeological culture of the European Epipaleolithic which flourished around 7000-8000 years BC. The name is derived from the type site of Sauveterre le L?mance in the French of Lot et Garonne....
  • Franco-Cantabrian region
  • Neolithic Europe
    Neolithic Europe

    Neolithic Europe is the time between roughly from 7000 BC to ca. 1700 BC . The Neolithic overlaps the Mesolithic and Bronze Age periods in Europe as cultural changes moved from the south east to north west at about 1km/year....
  • Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures
    Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures

    The synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures gives a rough picture of the relationships between the various principal Archaeological culture of Prehistory outside the Americas, Antarctica, Australia and Oceania....
  • Prehistoric France
    Prehistoric France

    Prehistoric France is the period in the human occupation of the geographical area covered by present-day France which extended through prehistory and ended in the Iron Age with the Celtic "La T?ne culture"....
  • Prehistoric Iberia
    Prehistoric Iberia

    The Prehistory of the Iberian peninsula begins with the arrival of the first hominins 1.2 million years ago and ends with the Punic Wars, when the territory enters the domains of written history....