Epipalaeolithic Near East

Reconstruction of Near East Paleolithic cave shelter. Şanlıurfa Museum, Turkey.

Reconstruction of Epipalaeolithic temporary tents. Şanlıurfa Museum.

Prehistoric Southwest Asia

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↓ Historic ↓

↑ Palaeolithic ↑

Axis scale is years Before Present

The Epipalaeolithic Near East designates the Epipalaeolithic ("Final Old Stone Age") in the prehistory of the Near East. It is the period after the Upper Palaeolithic and before the Neolithic, between approximately 25,000 and 11,500 years Before Present. The people of the Epipalaeolithic were nomadic hunter-gatherers who generally lived in small, seasonal camps rather than permanent villages. They made sophisticated stone tools using microliths—small, finely-produced blades that were hafted in wooden implements. These are the primary artifacts by which archaeologists recognise and classify Epipalaeolithic sites.

Although the appearance of microliths is an arbitrary boundary, the Epipalaeolithic does differ significantly from the preceding Upper Palaeolithic. Epipalaeolithic sites are more numerous, better preserved, and can be accurately radiocarbon dated. The period coincides with the gradual retreat of glacial climatic conditions between the Last Glacial Maximum and the start of the Holocene, and it is characterised by population growth and economic intensification. The Epipalaeolithic ended with the "Neolithic Revolution" and the onset of domestication, food production, and sedentism, although archaeologists now recognise that these trends began in the Epipalaeolithic.

The period is subdivided into Early (c. 25,000–19,000 BP), Middle (19,000–15,000 BP) and Late (15,000–11,500 BP) phases. In the Mediterranean Levant, the Early Epipalaeolithic is characterised by the Kebaran culture, the Middle Epipalaeolithic by the Geometric Kebaran culture, and the Late Epipalaeolithic by the Natufian culture. In Mesopotamia, the Zagros, and the Iranian plateau, the entire period is associated with the Zarzian culture. The Epipalaeolithic of Anatolia is relatively poorly documented but displays cultural similarities to both the Levantine Epipalaeolithic and Aegean Mesolithic. With a few exceptions that resemble the Geometric Kebaran, the Arabian Peninsula is thought to have been largely uninhabitable during this period.