The Pre-Neolithic therefore refers to a period before the Neolithic that either does not have all the characteristics of the Mesolithic or has a superset, the extraneous ones belonging to the Neolithic. For example, the Jōmon culture of Japan is called the Pre-Neolithic because of its pottery, but it did not produce food. In the same spirit the Epipaleolithic ("after the Palaeolithic") stands also where the Mesolithic should be.
