The Art of the Mesolithic Era

A newly excavated site in central Texas contains evidence that the first human settlers in the Lone Star state arrived more than 15,000 years ago. That's more than 2,000 years earlier than scientists originally thought.

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This is a site that has some excellent photos of Mesolithic art, sculpture and pottery. However, this is a stock photo site and you are not permitted to copy or use any of these images unless you purchase the right to do so. I have included this site because of the exquisite views of Mesolithic art that are contained here. Please have a look, your time will be well spent. Click on the link below to view:

The Lessing Photo Archive

Because metal and metalworking had not yet come about, flint was the mainstay for weapons and tools. The Mesolithic people became very skilled in working flint in arrow heads, spear heads, knives and scrapers. We can assume that the villages who had the best flint knappers were able to use the products as trade goods and to create some sort of wealth. Archeologists have found many Mesolithic Era dig sites strewn about with flint points, tools and the waste from flint knapping. Thus, the Mesolithic Era is not only called the "Middle Stone Age" but it is also called the "Microlith" Era as well.

Microliths were also used as a cutting edge for a larger spear head made of bone, antler or wood. The smaller, razor-sharp pieces were embedded along the edges of the spear point to give it greater cutting and piercing abilities.

Bow and Arrows - The bow and arrow were invented during the Mesolithic Era. The spear thrower, which was invented in the Late Upper Paleolithic Era was probably begining to be phased out as it was more for hunting large game, and much of the large game was becoming extinct.

Flint Knapping - Flint knapping for arrow and spear points was very important. Other tools such as scrapers for cleaning hides and knives were also made from flint.

Pottery for Food Storage - The first fired pottery was created for use as food storage. The clay was fired over an open fire during this time. There were also some small sculptures created of clay that have been found.

Small Sculpture- Small sculptures were carved from stone and a few have been found made of fired clay.

Rock Art - Art moved from inside on cave walls to outside on cliff walls and rock outcroppings. The subjects were mostly people in various groups or hunting scenes. Many of the paintings use stick-like figures and red coloring. Researchers believe that these painting represented mostly religious practices and / or were used to record various groups and communities. The colorful paintings of the Upper Paleolithic Era gave way to stick-like drawings of groups of people painted mostly in red.

Basketry - There is fossil evidence of wicker fish traps and nets used by Mesolithic fisherman. Head dresses made of woven plant fiber and shells have also been found in burial sites.

Jewelry and Ornamentation - the Mesolithic people had belts and necklaces made with beads of shell and animal teeth. The females were buried with "jewelry" on and the men were mainly buried with flint tools.

Doggerland is what many archeologists and anthropologists call the area where various new artifacts from the Mesolithic Era are being found. This was a land area that contained rich soil for growing and supported many wild edible plants as well as providing a large amount of shoreline for fishing and gathering from the sea.

Doggerland was a land mass that connected Great Britain to Europe and extended to the the east coast of the Netherlands. It also included the western coasts of Germany and Denmark. This area was said to be the richest hunting and fishing ground in Europe at that time, so of course early man would have settled there.

Doggerland became submerged in the North Sea once the glaciers of the last ice age melted around 6500 B.C., although scientist believe that part of Doggerland remained as an island (now called the "Dogger Bank") until about 5,000 B.C. when the water level rose considerably.

In 1931, a fishing boat discovered a barbed antler point which created interest in the area and since that time archeologist and discovered many artifacts from under the sea in this area commonly referred to as the Dogger Bank.

Read more about Doggerland at Wikipedia

Kamennaya Mogila - Located in the Ulraine near Melitopol. Carved and scratched depictions of mammals near a recent excavation of a Mesolithic settlement.

Gobustan (Kobystan) - Located between the Great Caucasian Range and the Caspian Sea. Numerous petroglyphs including groups of people, bulls, deer , predators and even reptiles and insects.

Zaraut-Kamar - Located in Uzbekistan in the lower range of the Kugitang mountains. Ocher paintings of four groups of depictions of anthropomorphs and bulls.

Bhimbetka - Located in North Central India. The site contains numbers rock paintings on sandstone of groups of people and animals.