nd perhaps most impressive, phase of the Paleolithic period. Here artifacts reflect a society made up of communities of fishermen and reindeer hunters. Surviving Magdalenian tools, which range from tiny microliths to implements of great length and fineness, indicate an advanced technique. Weapons were highly refined and varied, the atlatl (throwing stick used to give a spear greater propulsion) first came into use, and along the southern edge of the ice sheet boats and harpoons were developed. However, the crowning achievement of the Magdalenian was its cave paintings, the culmination of Paleolithic art. After 13,000 BC more clement weather patterns resulted in the greater availability of food. In tropical and temperate forest regions, Paleolithic tools, still chipped, were adapted to the new conditions. This period is known as the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age. It began with the end of the last glacial period over 10,000 years ago and evolved into the Neolithic period; this change involved the gradual domestication of plants and animals and the formation of settled communities at various times and places. Mesolithic cultures represent a wide variety of hunting, fishing, and food gathering techniques. This is a clear indication that human populations developed new and ingenious ways to catch and kill animals, while the same time they devoted more energy to fishing and the collection of wild plant foods. This variety may be the result of adaptations to changed ecological conditions associated with the retreat of glaciers, the growth of forests in Europe and deserts in N Africa, and the disappearance of the large game of the Ice Age. Characteristic of the period were hunting and fishing settlements along rivers and on lake shores, where fish and mollusks were abundant. They lived as Fishers and Hunters and kept domesticated animals (oxen, goats and sheep) and made rough pottery. Pottery and the use of the bow were developed. This was t...
