Holocene

broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make implements

The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, mesos 'middle' + λίθος, lithos 'stone') is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymously, especially for outside northern Europe, and for the corresponding period in the Levant and Caucasus. The Mesolithic has different time spans in different parts of Eurasia. It refers to the final period of hunter-gatherer cultures in Europe and the Middle East, between the end of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Neolithic Revolution. In Europe it spans roughly 15,000 to 5,000 BP; in

The Holocene () is the current geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene together form the Quaternary period. The Holocene is an interglacial period within the ongoing glacial cycles of the Quaternary, and is equivalent to Marine Isotope Stage 1.

period of cooling that occurred after the Medieval Warm Period, usually defined as between the 14th (or the 16th) to the 19th centuries

Anthropocene is a term that has been used to refer to the period of time during which humanity has become a planetary force of change. It appears in scientific and social discourse, especially with respect to accelerating geophysical and biochemical changes that characterize the 20th and 21st centuries on Earth. Originally a proposal for a new geological epoch following the Holocene, it was rejected as such in 2024 by the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS).

calendar era that uses 10,000 BC as 1 HE

time of warm climate in the North Atlantic region lasting from c. 950 to c. 1250

massive extinction event during the current Holocene geological epoch

In archaeology, the Epipalaeolithic or Epipaleolithic (sometimes Epi-paleolithic etc.) is a period occurring between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic during the Stone Age. Mesolithic also falls between these two periods, and the two are sometimes confused or used as synonyms. More often, they are distinct, referring to approximately the same period of time in different geographic areas. Epipaleolithic always includes this period in the Levant and, often, the rest of the Near East. It sometimes includes parts of Southeast Europe, where Mesolithic is much more commonly used. Mesolithic very r

oldest known wooden sculpture

The Meghalayan age is the name given in 2018, by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, to the current age or latest geologic age – or uppermost stage of the Quaternary. It is also the upper, or latest, of three subdivisions of the Holocene epoch or series. This way of breaking down time is based only on geology; for example, it is unrelated to the three-age system of historical periods into which human development is sometimes divided.

In the geologic time scale, the Greenlandian is the earliest age or lowest stage of the Holocene Epoch or Series, part of the Quaternary. Beginning in 11,650 BP (9701 BCE or 300 HE) and ending with the 8.2-kiloyear event (c. 8200–8300 BP, 6200–6300 BCE, 3600–3700 HE), it is the earliest of three sub-divisions of the Holocene. It was officially ratified by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in June 2018 with the later Northgrippian and Meghalayan Ages/Stages. The lower boundary of the Greenlandian Age is the GSSP sample from the North Greenland Ice Core Project in ce

glacial period in the Alps

Neontology is a part of biology that, in contrast to paleontology, studies and deals with living (or, more generally, recent) organisms. It is the study of extant taxa (singular: extant taxon): taxa (such as species, genera and families) with members still alive, as opposed to (all) being extinct. For example: The Indian elephant (Elephas maximus) is an extant species, and the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) is an extinct species. The moose (Alces alces) is an extant species, and the Irish elk (Megaloceros giganteus) is an extinct species. In the group of molluscs known as the ceph

warmest and moistest Blytt-Sernander period, pollen zone and chronozone of Holocene northern Europe

first of the Blytt-Sernander sequence of north European climatic phases

In the geologic time scale, the Northgrippian is the middle of three ages or stages of the Holocene Epoch or Series. It was officially ratified by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in June 2018, along with the earlier Greenlandian and later Meghalayan ages/stages. The age takes its name from the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NorthGRIP). The age began 8,276 BP (6326 BCE or 3854 HE), near the 8.2-kiloyear event, and goes up to the start of the Meghalayan, which began 4,200 BP (2250 BCE or 7750 HE), near the 4.2-kiloyear event.

sea

The Subboreal is a climatic period, immediately before the present one, the subatlantic period. Both are part of the Holocene epoch. It lasted from 3710 to 450 BCE. During this time, conditions on earth were somewhat warmer and drier than the present with lower levels of carbon dioxide. There were important changes to vegetation, sea level, and the expansion of human civilizations, and the first instances of human recorded history.

The Subatlantic is the current climatic age of the Holocene epoch. It started about 2,500 years BP and is still ongoing. Its average temperatures are slightly lower than during the preceding Subboreal and Atlantic. During its course, the temperature underwent several oscillations, which had a strong influence on fauna and flora and thus indirectly on the evolution of human civilizations. With intensifying industrialisation, human society started to stress the natural climatic cycles with increased greenhouse gas emissions.

warm period during roughly the interval 9,000 to 5,000 years BP

stadial period

climatic period

The Preboreal is an informal stage of the Holocene epoch. It is preceded by the Tarantian and succeeded by the Boreal. It lasted from 10,300 to 9,000BP in radiocarbon years or 8350BC to 7050BC in Gregorian calendar years (8th millennium BC). It is the first stage of the Holocene epoch. The preboreal oscillation was a short (ca. 150 years) cooling episode within the preboreal.

millennium between 13,000 BC and 12,001 BC

Global deglaciation

series of north European climatic periods

millennium

2017 film by Richard Schenkman

2019 report by the United Nations on mass extinction

millennium

ice age of the last 34 million years, in particular in Antarctica

former lake in Sudan

alt=|thumb|Greenland ice sheet temperatures interpreted with 18O isotope from 6 ice cores (Vinther, B., et al., 2009) The neoglaciation ("renewed glaciation") describes the documented cooling trend in the Earth's climate during the Holocene, following the retreat of the Wisconsin glaciation, the most recent glacial period. Neoglaciation has followed the Hypsithermal or Holocene Climatic Optimum, the warmest point in the Earth's climate during the current interglacial stage, excluding the global warming-induced temperature increase starting in the 20th century. The neoglaciation has no well-mar

period

type of zone

Biological evolution of H. sapiens within the last 50,000 years or so

temperature trends since AD 1000

former lake in Bolivia, parts of it extended into Chile

hypothesis proposing an early start to the anthropocene epoch

cave and archaeological site in East Timor

The Lujanian age is a South American land mammal age within the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs of the Quaternary, from 0.4–0.011 Ma or 400–11 kya.