One striking contrast between Mesolithic and Paleolithic archaeology is the evidence for cave art.

The spectacular painted caves of southern France and Spain — Lascaux, Altamira, Chauvet — date to the Paleolithic period, when the ancestors of the Western Hunter-Gatherers (or related populations) were painting bison and horses and handprints on the walls of limestone caves.

The Mesolithic is largely without cave art.

There are some Mesolithic rock art sites in northern Europe — Scandinavian rock carvings, for example — but the explosion of Paleolithic cave painting does not have a clear Mesolithic equivalent.

Why the transition from the rich cave art of the Paleolithic to the relative paucity of Mesolithic art occurred is a question without a fully satisfying answer.