Terminology, process and change: reflections on the Epipalaeolithic of South-west Asia. (November 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Richter, Tobias; Maher, Lisa A.
• Is Part Of: Levant. Volume 45:Number 2(2013)
• Page Start: 121
• Page End: 132
• Publication Date: 2013-11
• Subjects: Epipalaeolithic, -- Mesolithic, -- Neolithic, -- South-west Asia, -- terminology; Middle East -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; Middle East -- History -- Periodicals; Middle East -- Civilization -- To 622 -- Periodicals; 939.4
• DOI: 10.1179/0075891413Z.00000000020
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0075-8914

Abstract

Abstract : The term Epipalaeolithic, like the Neolithic, was coined in the context of late 19th- and early 20th-century archaeological research in Europe and North Africa. It arrived later in South-west Asia, where it was used to contrast late glacial hunter-gatherers with the sedentary, socially complex farmers of the Holocene aceramic Neolithic. In this contribution we reflect on the history of Epipalaeolithic terminology, its past and current use as an interpretive heuristic, and consider how data from recent research affect (and perhaps call into question) the validity and perceived meaning of the term as it is applied to the Neolithic transition in South-west Asia.