The western Mediterranean coast and islands (Spain, Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, France, Italy, Sicily, and North Africa)
Perrin, T. (2025). The western Mediterranean coast and islands (Spain, Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, France, Italy, Sicily, and North Africa), in: Nilsson Stutz, L. et al. The Oxford handbook of Mesolithic Europe. Oxford Handbooks, : pp. 323-344. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198853657.013.16
In: Oxford Handbooks. Oxford University Press: New York. , more
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| Keywords |
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| Author keywords |
Mesolithic, southern Europe, North Africa, lithic industries, chronology, cultural groups |
| Abstract |
The period between the ninth and sixth millennia cal bc is that of the very last hunter-gatherer societies of the western Mediterranean. With shifting shorelines, the development of forest, and abrupt climate changes, these groups had to continually adapt to a changing environment. Long-distance exchanges and synchronous, yet geographically distant, technical and cultural developments show just how dynamic these societies were. The colonization of the islands, particularly Corsica and Sardinia, which had been uninhabited until then, indirectly testifies to the mastery of deep-sea navigation. Cultural developments are mainly based on the evolution of lithic industries, which constitutes the main part of their remains. This Mediterranean Mesolithic can be divided into two main phases, the passage from one to the other perhaps being due to a movement of populations along the coast. The spread of the Neolithic from east to west, however, put an end to this traditional world of hunter-gatherers. |
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