Azilian

A Mesolithic (or Epi-Palaeolithic) culture of southwest France and northern Spain, which seems to follow the Late Magdalenian of the area. It falls within the Late Glacial Period and may be correlated with the Allerod oscillation of the 10th millennium BC (c 9000 to 8000 BC). The culture was characterized by flint microliths, pebbles painted with schematic designs, small thumb-scrapers, fish hooks, and flat bone antler harpoons. It is named for Le Mas d'Zail, a massive cave region in southern France where such artifacts were first discovered in 1889. The Azilians were food gatherers who had domesticated the dog. The Oban and Oransay cultures are degenerated Azilian.

The culture or stage which follows the Magdalenian in France. It is now known to date from c9000 to 8000 bc, the closing millennia of the last ice age. According to some definitions this would make it late Palaeolithic, but traditionally it has often been regarded as Mesolithic. Red deer has replaced reindeer as the principal quarry; indeed, the reindeer had probably already become extinct in southern France by this time. The type site of the Azilian is Mas d’Azil in the Pyrenees. The distinctive tool types are the Azilian point (a double-pointed backed blade) and a flat red deer antler harpoon.