What time period does Mesolithic cover?

What time period does Mesolithic cover?

• A. roughly 10,000 BC to 4,000 BC
• B. 3 million years ago to 10,000 BC
• C. roughly 10,000 - 2,000 BC
• D. 2,000 BC to 1 AD

Answer: (A)

Mesolithic is the middle phase of the Stone Age, bridging the hunter-gatherer ways of the Paleolithic with the farming communities of the Neolithic. It develops after the last Ice Age ends, as climates warm and human groups adapt with new tools and subsistence strategies while agriculture has not yet become dominant. Because of this transitional character, the period is generally dated roughly from 10,000 BC to about 4,000 BC, though the exact end varies by region. Dates that go back to millions of years ago belong to earlier human evolution and the Paleolithic, while ranges stretching to 2,000 BC or later move into the Neolithic and Bronze Age. The span from 2,000 BC to 1 AD is also outside the Mesolithic, reflecting later developments in many areas.

Mesolithic is the middle phase of the Stone Age, bridging the hunter-gatherer ways of the Paleolithic with the farming communities of the Neolithic. It develops after the last Ice Age ends, as climates warm and human groups adapt with new tools and subsistence strategies while agriculture has not yet become dominant. Because of this transitional character, the period is generally dated roughly from 10,000 BC to about 4,000 BC, though the exact end varies by region. Dates that go back to millions of years ago belong to earlier human evolution and the Paleolithic, while ranges stretching to 2,000 BC or later move into the Neolithic and Bronze Age. The span from 2,000 BC to 1 AD is also outside the Mesolithic, reflecting later developments in many areas.