Holocene
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
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The more recent of the two epochs of the Quaternary Period, beginning at the end of the last major Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago. It is characterized by the development of human civilizations.
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Also called Recent
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See Chart at geologic time
Etymology
Origin of Holocene
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the following years, that surprise broadened into a question: “What are so many dogs doing in the visual arts from the Holocene 12,000 years ago to the present?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
By analyzing ancient sediment layers from lakes on K'gari, located off Queensland's south eastern coast, scientists uncovered signs of a major drying period about 7,500 years ago during the middle Holocene.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 2, 2026
The second was the Early Holocene, 12,000-8,000 years ago, just after the last Ice Age, when Mesolithic hunter-gatherers from our own species, Homo sapiens, inhabited the region.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 12, 2026
This timing in the Late Holocene period lines up with broader climatic shifts in the region, the researchers noted, coming around the same time as low-magnitude fires became more commonplace in the landscape.
From Science Daily ● May 21, 2024
This challenges the prevailing notion of a diet heavily based on animal protein among pre-agricultural human groups and raises questions about the lack of agricultural development in North Africa at the beginning of the Holocene.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 29, 2024
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
