Geologic Time Scale: Holocene Epoch

(11,650 years before the present to today)

The word Holocene is formed from two words in Ancient Greek “Holos” meaning “whole” and “Cene” meaning “new”/”recent” generally translating to “this epoch is “entirely new”.

The Holocene Epoch has been identified with the current warm period, and is considered by some to be an interglacial period within the Pleistocene Epoch, called the Flandrian interglacial. The Holocene corresponds with the rapid proliferation, growth, and impacts of the human species worldwide, including all of its written history, technological revolutions, development of major civilization.

<< Back to the Pleistocene Epoch

Back to Geology Time Scale Homepage >>