HYPSITHERMAL CLIMATIC INTERVAL

segment of the Holocene Epoch (the Holocene began about 10,000 years ago and continues to the present), dated on the basis of pollen studies. The Hypsithermal Climatic Interval began about 9,000 years ago and ended about 2,500 years ago. It has been divided into smaller units beginning with the Boreal. The Hypsithermal follows the Pre-Boreal and precedes the Sub-Atlantic intervals. The Hypsithermal Climatic Interval was a period of comparatively warm climatic conditions. The warming trend of the Hypsithermal resulted in the elimination of many plant and animal refuges that were adjusted to cooler climate, and it has been tied to the extinction of some species. Mesolithic and Neolithic cultures are contemporaneous with Hypsithermal events in both the New and Old Worlds. In many parts of the world, pine forests gave way to forests dominated by oak during the Hypsithermal.