Mesolithic art (also known as the Epipaleolithic) extends from the end of the Pleistocene Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago. The term Mesolithic is generally applied to the period of post-Pleistocene hunting and gathering in Europe and, sometimes, parts of Africa and Asia. In the Americas, the post-glacial hunter-gatherer stage that predates the dominance of agriculture is usually called the Archaic. In the rest of the world, Mesolithic sites are usually characterized by microliths. Microlithic segments were commonly retouched into a range of shapes, including crescents, triangles, rectangles, trapezoids, and rhomboids. Many of these microliths probably served as elements of composite tools, such as barbed or blade-tipped spears or arrows, or wooden-handled knives.