Epipalaeolithic

The Epipalaeolithic (or Epi-Palaeolithic, Epipaleolithic, or Epi-Paleolithic) was a period in the development of human technology, the last period of the Palaeolithic according to some of the classification schemes used in archaeology. The Epipalaeolithic is distinguished at least in the Middle East and Anatolia. It immediately precedes the neolithic period, as an alternative to mesolithic.

Epipalaeolithic cultures constructed relatively advanced small-bladed devices from stone or obsidian, known as microliths. They were hunters and gatherers and generally nomadic, although the Natufian culture of the Levant established permanent settlements.