The Mesolithic era, also called the Epipalaeolithic or the Middle Stone Age, is the period in prehistory that commenced after the end of the last ice age, 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, and ended with the development of agriculture and, in some regions, the establishment of permanent settlements. The term "Mesolithic" was first proposed in 1935 by British archaeologist Dorothy Garrod, to describe the period of transition between the Palaeolithic and Neolithic eras in Britain and Europe. The Mesolithic era saw the emergence of new tool technologies, the domestication of animals and the rise of seafaring and complex hunter-gatherer societies.