To understand what era we are talking about here, we briefly recall the history of the development of mankind.
In the Stone Age, a primitive society arose , which existed before our era for almost 36 thousand years. This period covers the following periods: late Paleolithic (40-10 thousand years BC); Mesolithic era - (10-5 thousand years BC); Neolithic (5-5 thousand years BC).
It should be noted that at the same time, some elements of culture arose even before the formation of primitive society. These are the rudiments of language, religious representations, an instrument in the form of, for example, a manual chop.
The development of culture begins at the same time with the completion of the formation of Homo sapiens, called the term homo sapiens.
What is Mesolithic?
The Mesolithic, as noted above, was between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic. Its beginning is connected with the end of the European ice age (geological era - Holocene). At that time, the climate familiar to today's people was established, and the flora and fauna appeared.
What is Mesolithic? What general changes in people's lives are characteristic of this period?
The invention of the first tools (bow and arrow), the taming of some animals - the most important achievements of the Mesolithic. People began to make tools from flint, and for the protection of housing and hunting began to use dogs. Fishing nets preserved from those times and wooden objects similar to rafts and canoes indicate the beginning of the development of fishing. Harpoons in one and even two rows of teeth set apart demonstrate the presence of people of those times hunting skills for different animals. The tools, as in the Paleolithic, were small points and plates of geometric shapes, used as tips for arrows or for composite tools.
During this period, the production of various wooden and wicker utensils is growing. For example, all kinds of bags, baskets of reeds and bast were found. The Mesolithic period is characterized by the resettlement of people far to the north, with the development of the territories of the coast of the Arctic Ocean, the Baltic States and Scotland.
Culture and art
Significant advancement in art marked Mesolithic. The man began to draw. Many paintings were found depicting not only people but also animals. Moreover, a certain schematism appears that conveys precisely the movement, the meaning of events and the state of the soul. An important place among the drawings is occupied by scenes of struggle and battles, as well as hunting. Evidence of this clearly, for example, paintings on the rocks of Valltorta in Spain.
Music and dancing arose in the Mesolithic. They were used in rituals and on holidays. Religious representations are being improved and complicated. For example, the cult of ancestors and faith in otherworlds are strengthened. The very ritual of burial of a deceased person is performed with the burial of things necessary for otherworldly life, more complex burial grounds are being built.
Mesolithic era in terms of progress in the development of public relations
There is progress in the development and improvement of social factors: the formation of speech, the emergence of rules and norms of behavior, the appearance of prescriptions and prohibitions, etc.
Immediately there are forms of violence associated with the violation of public norms, which led to various forms of punishment, up to physical reprisal. There is an accumulation of more and more new knowledge about the world around us, skills that contribute to survival are improved (knowledge of the habits of animals, various properties of plants, minerals). The first experiences of treatment with herbs appear, the first surgical operations (amputation of limbs, tooth extraction, etc.).
Life: dwellings, clothes
What is Mesolithic for tribal life?
If the way of life in the Paleolithic was nomadic, then in the Mesolithic the territories of residence are intensively mastered, that is, the so-called settledness appears.
This era made a transformation in the life of a person of that time. As dwellings, not only light constructions (deep, oval) were used, but also rocky plumb and caves.
While there is no evidence of the existence of weaving in the Mesolithic. The clothes of the Mesolithic European tribes varied depending on the seasons and the area of human habitation.
There are slight indications that the weapon was used for military purposes.
So what is Mesolithic?
Modern people should remember that the very foundations for the further development of all mankind were laid in the culture of primitive society . And, it is important that people should not forget who they owe to what they are now.