The Tardenoisian (or Beuronian) is an

archaeological culture An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of types of artifacts, buildings and monuments from a specific period and region that may constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between thes ...

of the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

Epipaleolithic In archaeology, the Epipalaeolithic or Epipaleolithic (sometimes Epi-paleolithic etc.) is a period occurring between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic during the Stone Age. Mesolithic also falls between these two periods, and the two are someti ...

period from northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Similar cultures are known further east in central

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, parts of Britain. and west across

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It is named after the type site at

Fère-en-Tardenois Fère-en-Tardenois (, literally ''Fère in Tardenois'') is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It is named for the Tardenois region. Population Personalities It was the birthplace of Camille Claudel (18 ...

in the

Tardenois The Tardenois () is today a natural region (''région naturelle'') of France. It is known among archeologists for the epipaleolithic culture known as Tardenoisian after its characteristic arrowheads, originally found at Coincy in the Tardenois i ...

region in France, where E. Taté first discovered its characteristic artifacts in 1885. Characteristic artifacts differ from earlier industries by the presence of geometric microliths,

microburin A microburin is a characteristic waste product from manufacture of lithic tools — sometimes confused with an authentic burin — which is characteristic of the Mesolithic, but which has been recorded from the end of the Upper Paleolithic until ...

, scalene triangles, trapezoids and chisel-ended arrowheads and small flint blades made by the pressure-technique. The term is also used for several microlithic industries and sites in northern Italy and Eastern Europe and to distinguish the northern French Tardenoisian sites from the

Sauveterrian The Sauveterrian is the name for an archaeological culture of the European Mesolithic which flourished around 8500 to 6500 years BP. The name is derived from the type site of Sauveterre-la-Lémance in the French of Lot-et-Garonne. It extended ...

industry in southern France. The Tardenoisian followed the

Ahrensburgian The Ahrensburg culture or Ahrensburgian (c. 12,900 to 11,700 BP) was a late Upper Paleolithic nomadic hunter culture (or technocomplex) in north-central Europe during the Younger Dryas, the last spell of cold at the end of the Weichsel glaciatio ...

, with which it was paralleled, and lasted from about 9.000 BC until 6.000 in the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

.{{cite web, url=http://eacharya.inflibnet.ac.in/data-server/eacharya-documents/5717528c8ae36ce69422587d_INFIEP_304/122/ET/304-122-ET-V1-S1__file1.pdf , title =Mesolithic Culture of Europe , publisher = e-Acharya INFLIBNET , date= , author= , accessdate= January 22, 2019

Notes

Mesolithic cultures of Europe Archaeological cultures of Central Europe Archaeological cultures of Southwestern Europe Archaeological cultures of Western Europe Archaeological cultures in Belgium Archaeological cultures in England Archaeological cultures in France Archaeological cultures in Germany Archaeological cultures in Spain 9th-millennium BC establishments